The Diamond Ball
by CrackedCompass
Summary: The Kingdoms of the Hearts, Spades, Clubs and Diamonds would meet once a year to engage in a conference and discuss methods of maintaining the peace, and follow that with a grand ball to celebrate. This year the event was to be held in the Kingdom of Diamonds, and Francis expected everything to be perfect, until he met the newly crowned King and Queen of Spades...
1. Chapter 1

Spring embraced the air and the trees of the Kingdom of Diamonds, bringing to lift the flowers that sat in the famous Garden of Diamond, sending the river to flow at a peaceful pace through the elaborate and bright villages, and the sun beaming down onto the faces of everyone whom called themselves a Diamond.  
It was as though it was fate for the mid-year conference and ball to be held in the land-locked kingdom of light and wealth.  
The Mid-year conference and ball happened once a year, during the spring, and this year the responsibility for hosting this ball fell into the hands of the monarchy of diamonds. The conference was set to allow the kingdoms to maintain their relationships in terms of trade and relations, despite being free to do this privately with each other whenever they wished; the compulsory bringing-together of the kingdoms encouraged every kingdom to be involved in the talks; regardless of histories and attitudes towards the other kingdoms. Whereas the ball was created to cement the kind relations between the kingdoms, and involved dancing, food and discussion that were free of politics.  
In his fifth year of Kingship, this was the second time that Francis shall see all of the royals of each kingdom gather in his castle. He had met the Kings and Queens of the Hearts and Clubs, however, about a month ago the new king and queen have risen to the throne.

"The ballroom is perfectly decorated for tonight's festivities, your highness." The Ace of Diamonds announced as Francis held up his arms, allowing the servant to easily slide the kings golden coat over his arms.  
Antonio had been training his entire life to become the perfect Ace; the diamond-shaped birthmark on his hand sealed the contract between Antonio and his kingdom. Antonio wore a long yellow and gold coat, which was decorated with heavily detailed diamond embroidery on the cuffs of his sleeves and the tail of his coat. As it was the duty of the Ace to protect the King and Queen from attack, Antonio constantly kept his sword by his side, sheathed underneath his coat, with the handle readily accessible.

"Please, it's been nearly two years, I told you to just call me Francis," Francis chuckled as he tugged on his coat.

"Apologies," Antonio chuckled, "I was taught to shower you in formality."

"I prefer _familiarity."_ Francis pointed out, "nonetheless, have you spoken to Lili."

"She is overseeing the flower arrangements, it's rather cute how your queen is so focussed on the flowers," Antonio chuckled.

"So she should be," Vash pointed out, the Jack of Diamonds, as he stood behind Antonio with his back against the wall, with his arms crossed over his chest. "Everything needs to be perfect, not only is this the mid-year conference, it's the first time the new Spades are going to see us. If our relationship with their monarchy is going to be maintained, everything needs to be perfect."  
It was the duty of the Jack to guide the King and Queen in interactions with the other kingdoms, as well as advise them on the actions they should take to better their own kingdoms, which can be organised through trade and alliances with other kingdoms, as well as home-polices which are determined by the King and Queen.

"Ahh, yes," Antonio murmured as he pulled off his white glove in order to efficiently scratch his head. "I believe it's the first time the other monarchs will see them too… so everyone will be focussing on them."

"But we can't let them overtake our event," Francis pointed out; "remind me, what am I after from this conference?"

"Suggest strengthening the trade relationship with the hearts, in light of their mining boom. King Ludwig and Queen Kiku have appointed a new Jack, whom happens to be a personal friend of theirs and the brother of their Ace; so you can use that to break the ice and trigger conversation. You are free to point out the similarities between our monarchies, considering that your queen is my sister."

"Relating to the hearts… that's new," Francis pointed out.

"The Clubs are showing an increasing interest in our agriculture, I have received a letter from the Jack of Clubs asking for our figures from the last six months."

"And did you give it to them?" Antonio asked.

"No, I'm not going to spoil the surprise; I'll say that the letter was hijacked. If they think that another kingdom is interested, they will act faster and harder, King Ivan is a stubborn man who doesn't enjoy interference in his business." Vash explained, "So, just let the Clubs come to you, Francis, and play hard-to-get."

"Easy," Francis chuckled, "do you have any advice regarding the Spades?"

"Historically, the Spades and the Diamonds have a positive relationship; it will be a goal of theirs to maintain that relationship, considering how much the Kingdom of Spade relies on Diamond agriculture, and how much the Kingdom of Diamonds relies on Spade steel." Vash explained, "They shouldn't be difficult to deal with. Who knows; you could make friends."  
Francis laughed in response to the suggestion.

"Don't speak of it as though this is detrimental. There hasn't been a war between the four kingdoms in nearly four dynasties," Francis chuckled, "The Diamonds weren't even fighting in the last one."

"True, but the Diamonds aided the Spades through supplies, and providing shelter for the Queen whilst the King went to the battlefield. Which explains why the historical relationship of Spade and Diamond is so important," Vash pointed out.

"Is there something that concerns you?" Antonio asked.

"The Club advancement, they've been getting extremely _bold_ ever since the crowning of Queen Elizabeta, they have the largest territorial space and one of the largest populations. I liken the relationship between King Ivan and Queen Elizabeta to be that of a business partnership. I'm only concerned about history repeating itself. Even the ambition of King Ludwig brings concern."

"However, neither of them have the largest army," Francis pointed out, "that belongs to the Spades, nor the most resources or fertile land, because those belong to us."

"Well, it still didn't stop them from invading Diamond and Heart territory, nor did fail to discourage the Hearts from invading Diamond territory twenty years later."

"But these new leaders are young, they understand the mistakes of the monarchs before them and pledge to not repeat them," Francis explained as he walked past his Ace and Jack; completely dressed in his gold, yellow and orange royal robes, opening the balcony doors to embrace the warming glow of the sun. "War can be prevented through negotiation, as long as we keep everyone happy; there will be no call to arms."

"Is that why you decreased the national budget to the army?" Vash grumbled, gritting his teeth.

"Yes. Because there is no need for an army if we're not going to war. If the time ever comes where my kingdom is under threat: I will change it," Francis explained.

"Is that a carriage?" Antonio asked, pointing over the balcony, pointing towards the stone wall that bordered the territory of the castle, where the tips of red and pink flags could be seen poking over the wall.

Vash peered at the colours of the flags, "Hearts. They're early, as usual."

"Excellent," Francis exclaimed as he turned around and walked back into his royal chamber, before leaving the room.

The elaborately decorated and coloured carriage rolled to a stop, leaving the Diamond monarchs to stand at the end of the walkway, awaiting their emergence. The door opened, first the Ace stepped out of the carriage, with his hand readily resting on the handle of his sword, a reminder of his positon. The Jack stepped out of the carriage afterwards, unlike the Jack; his eyes were wide with curiosity.

"They look so alike…" Lili pointed out.  
Francis looked down at his young queen and smiled sweetly, doting on the young girl as though she was a daughter or a niece, rather than his queen.  
With the Jack and the Ace standing by their side of the steps to the carriage, a smaller figure with black hair stepped out of the carriage. Francis immediately recognised the figure as the queen of hearts, and the blonde who followed the queen out of the carriage as the King himself.  
Francis smiled as he watched the odd pairing walk towards him, the King and the Queen glancing at each other and nodding, reassuring each other. Like the Clubs, Francis always analysed the relationship of the King and Queen of Hearts to be another business partnership. Just like all of the other monarchies, their marriage was an act of fate and tradition and prioritised the kingdom over their feelings for each other.  
The determination of the next King and Queen is as simple as being born, somewhere on the child at the time of their birth, there is a birthmark which indicated whether they hold the title of the next reigning King, Queen, Jack or Ace, the symbols appear on the child regardless of the child's gender, so it is completely possible for there to be female kings and male queens, in this dynasty, it appeared that male queens were becoming more regular.

Finally, the familiar shade of royal blue accompanied with the symbol of the Spades monarchy flashed above a dark-wooden carriage rolled to a halt before the walkway to where Francis and his queen stood.  
The door opened and the Ace exited the carriage, once again following the tradition of holding the handle of his sword, ready to protect the King and queen from any attack. The Jack followed afterwards, dressed properly and ready to act as the adviser of the king and queen. Francis' muscles tensed from the nervousness, as he awaited the appearance of his new allies.

However, something felt off, the next figure to step out of the carriage wore something that made the Diamond king frown with confusion. The man wore the royal blue coat and the crown of the King of Spades, making Francis wonder why the King of Spades was breaking the tradition and stepping out before his queen. The Jack of Spades visibly sighed, while the Ace simply smiled at the King, as though he found it amusing.  
The King of Spades was a tall young man with caramel coloured hair whilst his wide smile oozed his confidence and reflected his pride and on his face sat rectangular frames, before his set of bright oceanic-blue eyes. The King stood before the carriage, extending his hand out to the door, where a pale hand reached out, flashing two rings on his ring finger. Finally the figure stepped out of the carriage and revealed himself to the diamond monarchs; the Queen of Spades.

Francis' heart suddenly ached, making the Frenchman freeze with confusion, however he could not help but watch as the queen of spades stepped out of the carriage.  
His light blonde hair glistened in the sunlight and his amazing forest-green eyes stared down at his king with a loving stare, which hit the King of Diamonds directly in the heart. Finally, the Queen looked at him, analysing the surroundings around him. Francis found himself captivated by the queen of Spades and watched hopelessly as the queen hooked his arm around the king.  
This sight shocked Francis the most, he had never seen a King and a Queen walk together like that, attached by the arms, nor had he ever seen a king and a queen look at each other the way that the spades did right before him.  
With the King and Queen of spades standing right before him, Francis still could not find the words to speak as he was crushed under the weight of the stare of the queen of Spades.

"Welcome to the Kingdom of Diamonds," Lili explained, politely curtsying before their visitors, snapping the King back into the reality, forcing him to break his stare with the queen of spades.

"Yes, welcome," Francis replied extending his hand to shake the hand of the King of Spades, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both." He firmly shook the hand of the other King, trying his best to keep his hand steady, and to keep his eyes away from the queen. "I am Francis, and this is my queen, Lili."

"Pleasure," the queen of spades replied, before extending his hand towards Francis. He took the queens hand and bent down to kiss it, astonished by how soft and light it was.

"I am Alfred," The king explained as Francis let the queens hand drop.

"Arthur." The queen added, smiling politely.

 _Arthur,_ Francis repeated in his mind, astonished by how even his name was beautiful. Francis shook himself out of this phase, how could he be thinking these things about another queen? He had never felt such a thing for anyone before, why now?! This anxiety writhed in his stomach and cried within his heart, his heart bounded and made him feel dizzy.

Internally he panicked when both kings and queens turned around to walk back into the castle, and he found Arthur standing by his side, however, his arm was still hooked around Alfred's, as though they were glued together.

"Francis?" Alfred asked, frowning, "Are you ok?"

"You seem flushed…" Arthur pointed out; with only his concern making Francis feel worse.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Francis promised before looking at Lili who looked incredibly worried.

"Do you need to rest?" Lili asked.

"I'll go into my study when we get inside, I need to breathe…" Francis mumbled as he rubbed his forehead.

"Are you sure you want to miss the introduction?" Lili asked, Francis looked past Lili to see Vash and Antonio looking at him with worried glares.

"Is everything alright?" Alfred asked, finally drawing the attention back to the Spades.

"Yes," Francis replied as the grand doors to the Diamond castle opened to reveal a beautiful entrance hall, a chandelier hung in the centre of the large hall, which was decorated with diamonds and elegant flower displays.

"This place is so beautiful," Arthur gasped.

"Vash, may you escort our latest guests to the meeting room?" Francis asked.

"Wait, you won't be coming?" Alfred asked.

"I will be there soon, I just need to check something quickly," Francis replied, as he began to make his way up the staircase, "please, do enjoy your stay; the other monarchs are very excited to meet you both."

Francis escaped as quickly as he could, however the raging beating of his heart didn't calm, as the door to his grand office slammed shut, the King sighed heavily as he grasped his heart, cursing under his breath.  
However, he looked at his chair to see a figure sit in his chair, staring at him with deep red eyes, making the king freeze, and consider calling for guards.  
The figure was dressed completely in black, which contrasted with his deathly pale skin and pure white hair.

"Don't bother…" A voice muttered, the voice was coarse and deep, and sent a shiver down the King's spine.  
The figure smiled, as he mashed his slender fingers together.  
It was then that the King suddenly realised the identity of the figure who sat before him, he was a man of legend, or rather: a demon on earth. The bringer of bad luck. The Teller of Doom. Or, more formally, _The Joker._

"Why are you here?" Francis asked, terrified about what terrible prediction the Joker was going to give him, or what curse he could inflict.  
No one exactly knows much about the Joker, as he isn't seen enough to be studied completely. He stands back and watches the world go by, being in multiple places at once, and collecting information about everyone he watched. Some say that he knows the future, and is simply sitting back and waiting for it to happen. Sometimes he would choose to appear and give people words of warning, but yet… his presence is said to be a sign of impending doom.

"I've been tempted…" The Joker answered, "I've never once seen a King fall in love with the Queen of another Kingdom, especially upon first sight, that was very impressive."

"I'm not _in love._ " Francis hissed, "I barely know him. He could have a terrible personality."

The Joker laughed loudly, "You are so wrong. Wrong in so many ways."

"I can't be…" Francis murmured, refusing to accept the Jokers words.

"Your heart cries, it cries for attention, it cries for mercy and love. And it just so happened to be awakened _right as that man stepped out of the carriage."_ The Joker chuckled.

"What did you do?!" Francis asked.

"I did nothing." The Joker replied, cackling in laughter, "Your heart chose what it wanted, and that happened to be the _worst possible person!"_

"How so?" Francis asked.

"You noticed the way the King and Queen of Spades looked at each other, how they walked arm and arm… Your heart certainly noticed." The joker explained, tapping his black nails on the dark wood of Francis' desk. "They are actually the first loving King and Queen that I've seen in what could be centuries! They are married to each other, as well as their kingdom, that is why they wear two rings, rather than one. They _are one._ "  
Francis sighed and looked to the decorative rug, staring hopelessly at the diamond decorations that lined the rug.  
"This was so beautiful to watch, one of the most interesting things I've seen as my time as the reigning Joker."

"So, you find this funny?" Francis asked.

"And … tragic…" The Joker pointed out raising his eyebrows as he knelt backward in the car, "well… it will be tragic. You want something that you can't have…"

"What are you here to tell me?" Francis asked.

"Well… I am giving you some insight... you can act on the cries of your heart; however, the price that will come with it will be catastrophic. However, if you choose to keep these feelings to yourself, only you alone will suffer…"


	2. Chapter 2

Standing in shock, Francis only stared blankly at the smirking Joker, who sat at Francis' desk, amused at the mess he had created.

The Joker continued to prophesise, "You will try to push it away, but you cannot hide from your own heart, and it will consume you… You will see him more and more, and your pain will only grow, and yet: the object of your desire will remain blissfully unaware… Unless… if you choose to act… then … that's a whole other future..."

"What will happen if I tell him about how I feel?" Francis mumbled, picturing Arthur's face and immediately pictured it recoiling in shock at the King's confession…

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise; it is up to you to decide. Are you going to prioritise your heart over your duty?" The Joker asked.

"But… how does he feel about me?" Francis asked, before shaking his head: having already known the answer. The memory of the way that the Queen of Spades stared at his King proved that there is no room for another man in his heart, "this can't be happening. I can't feel this way…"

"But, you do." The Joker pointed out.

Francis' eyes narrowed at the Joker, "what have you done? You've cursed me."

The Joker raised his hands in defence, "I don't curse! I don't know why people think that I set curses! I only observe and influence, all I want is to sooth the passage of time—"

"Don't give me that, you're malicious and enjoy the sight of others in pain!"

A wicked smile crossed over the Jokers thin lips, revealing a set of fangs at the corners of his teeth, "I'm not denying that."

Francis gripped the doorknob, preparing himself to escape from his office, "you're only out to destroy me."

"I won't need to do much. You'll destroy yourself," The Joker pointed out, before Francis swung open his office door and marched out, determined to ignore anything else that the Joker wanted to say to him. He stomped down the hallway, making his way to the grand staircase that led down to the entrance hall.  
The Joker's voice echoed in his mind, repeating the prophecy that foretold the King's suffering, at the hands of his own heart…

He decided that he wasn't going to act. Whatever the punishment was for choosing to conceal his feelings, Francis was prepared to handle. The alliance of the Spades and Diamonds wasn't worth risking, if others were to find out about Francis' feelings, a scandal would spread throughout the whole kingdom like a plague. If he were to tell Arthur and Arthur reject him with a heavy hand and run to tell his King, the punishment would be terrible. A King is never supposed to be interested in another Queen, it's disrespectful to every Kingdom involved, and it enough to severe any type of alliance between Kingdoms, and Francis was not prepared to do that to the Spades.  
No matter how he feels about the new queen…

Just as he expected, his heart crumbled at the sight of the King and Queen of Spades fawning over each other like young lovers, much to the confusion of the other monarchs, who were more than interested in the fact that it was possible a King and a Queen can love each other…  
Francis tried once again to convince himself that the sickness in his stomach was the result of a curse, and not his own feelings… However, the Joker's arguments were too stable to contest.  
Arthur glanced at the King, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

Francis smiled, flawlessly shielding his anxiety, "Yes, everything is fine…"

"It's about time you came to greet us…" A chilling voice announced, Francis looked to see the taller King of Clubs approach him, with this confident queen by his side, whilst their Jack followed.

"We were wondering where you were," Queen Elizabeta pointed out.  
She was a beautiful woman; everyone in the room could see that, however this was minimal compared to the presence she held in a room, and the confidence in her steps and her smiles only showed that she knew this. Like her taller King, she wore a long green gown with a slit along her leg, revealing her knee-length black tights, and green heels, and a small pink flower decorated her long brown hair.

"I just had to take care of something," Francis pointed out, until he noticed Elizabeta's King, Ivan, staring at him with his narrow violet eyes.

"We would like to speak to you about something…" Ivan mumbled, like his Queen, Ivan was dressed in green, however, he appeared to look much more regal, with a long fur cloak covering nearly his whole body, which would have been necessary in the cold environment of the Kingdom of Clubs.

"Please, save it for the conference…" Francis chuckled, remembering Vash's advice to play 'hard to get'.

"I'd like to congratulate you on your new Jack," A voice announced, Francis glanced over to see the Spades talking with the Hearts, the King of Hearts, a young blonde man stood firmly as the confident and ambitious king of spades talked with him. The Heart wore deep red and pink colours in the form of cloaks and royal garments. Whereas the Spades wore their classic blue and violet shades, with Alfred wearing the royal blue coat, and brown suit, whilst Arthur wore matching suit, but a violet coat and a bow tied around his neck.  
The Jacks of spades and heart glanced at each other and smiled, both wearing regal robes in their kingdoms colours, both were well aware of their duties to their monarchs, and showed mutual respect to each other because of that.  
Similarly the Ace's all stood together in a line, watching the discussions unfolding as though they were the guardians of their monarchs. Each kept their hand upon the handles of their swords, their eyes following every movement that their monarchs made like hawks. The spade monarch suddenly made eye contact with the diamond king with his soft violet eyes; he smiled sweetly, as though Francis was a friend. His soft and fluffy locks of light blonde hair bounced as his eyes suddenly focussed back on his monarchs, and he resumed his duty as the royal watchdog.  
Francis glanced to his side to see Vash standing by him, glaring at him: as though he was trying to figure out what was going on in his king's mind…

"Did you receive my letters?" The Jack of Clubs mumbled to Vash, Vash smiled.

"I received them, I sent something back. Didn't you get them, Roderich?" Vash smirked at the green Jack. Roderich's eyes narrowed, suspecting something behind Vash's smile.  
Francis glanced back at the King and Queen of Clubs, and smiled sweetly, as if the monarchs were old friends.

"Three years on the throne now, you must be getting used to these things now," Francis chuckled.

"The formality is driving me crazy…" Elizabeta sighed, "I hate being watched by the Ace's like this…"

Ivan's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the Ace's, "I worry at the idea of my little sister protecting me…"

Francis gasped, "Your Ace is your sister!"

"What of it?" Ivan asked, suspecting offence from Francis' remark.

Francis lifted his hands in response, "No, there's nothing wrong, in fact, my Queen and Jack are brother and sister as well, and also, the new Jack of Hearts is the brother of the Ace of hearts… it seems that there are a lot of familial connections in these dynasties."

Elizabeta and Ivan suddenly looked at each other and nodded, before Elizabeta leaned into Francis, "how much do you know about the new spades…?"

"Not much, why?" Francis asked, feeling his heartrate increase at the mention of the spades, and the worry of what the Clubs were about to say to him.

"They seem… confident…" Ivan mumbled, "They're new and yet they speak like their experienced monarchs."

Elizabeta laughed, "But who isn't confident at their first conference? They just want to impress everyone, they're nothing to be afraid of. Arthur was talking to the other Queens about how he and the King had an actual _wedding!"_

Francis nearly choked on his own breath as the word _wedding_ shot through his ears and ran directly into his heart, "Wedding…"

"I think it's interesting, none of us have seen a _married_ King and Queen before, it's amazing to see them together and wear their crowns at the same time!" Elizabeta continued to explain with a bright smile on her face, barely able to contain her happiness, "It's soothing."

"But still." Ivan grimaced, "I just don't like them, they're too proud and loud about it…"

"Heh…" Francis muttered, feeling his heart tense and sink into anxiety; he glanced past Ivan and Elizabeta, to see Arthur speaking with Lili, laughing and smiling in conversation. Francis' eyes narrowed as he focussed on Arthurs face, watching him smile and laugh as he spoke, hearing his voice echo throughout the hallway. Despite everything he knew, the sight of Arthur filled Francis' heart with joy and hope; however, this only worsened Francis' sinking feeling. He pulled his gaze away from the Queen, reconnecting with the clubs. But yet, he could still hear Arthur speak, he couldn't understand what he was saying, but his voice alone captivated the diamond King.

Francis tried to listen and concentrate on all of the other conversations he held with the other royals, however, he always found himself glancing in Arthur's direction. His eyes gravitated to the vibrant violet fabric of his coat, and his ears were drawn to the queen's regal and refined accent. Francis even found it infuriating to listen to the husband of his object of desire, all he could think about was the envy that consumed him as he spoke to the King of Spades. Of course, he maintained his smile and poise, making sure that the King and Queen of Spades couldn't see through his façade of grace and composure, whilst inside he writhed in the pain of his aching heart.

The butterflies in his stomach burst into a rage as he spoke to Arthur, Francis was impressed by the queen's intellect and grace as he spoke about the development of the Kingdom of Spades, as well as the importance of the historic relationship between the Spades and Diamonds.

"Wine, your majesty?" A servant offered, carrying a tray that was covered in tall glasses of fresh red wine.

Arthur smiled as he accepted the wine, before smiling at the Diamond King, "I've always been a fan of Diamond Wine, however, tea will always be my favourite."

Internally Francis panicked, as he and the Queen of Spades continued to talk; it took extreme effort for the notoriously flirtatious King to not shower the Queen in compliments, especially with the watchful eye of the King of Spades occasionally glancing their way.  
However, the opportunities to compliment the Queen were endless, he was beautiful inside and out, compassionate towards his people in the form of charity and ambitious in the form of development and invention.  
Their conversation continued throughout the banquet, as Francis organised for the Spades and the Diamonds to sit closely. As the night rode on and more drinks were served, the noise only became louder, and the discussions became more personal. Despite what he feared: the alcohol did not inhibit Francis' ability to shield his true feelings from Arthur and Alfred, he could only watch as they leaned into each other and whispered intimately, and their cheeks flushed with rosy-pink colours.  
All Francis could think about whilst watching this exchange was the Joker's words that he _alone will suffer._ Slowly, Francis came to realise just what the suffering was…

Finally, in a drunken and heartbroken haze, the Diamond King retired to his bedroom, well aware that whilst all of the other royals slept in separate bedrooms, only the spades requested to share one, only delivering another blow to his already sunken heart.  
However, as Francis prepared himself for sleep, only wearing his white blouse and tanned pants, he heard the noise of the door to his bedroom creep open. Expecting it to be a servant, the King ignored it, until he felt a pair of slender and soft hands run along his sides, before resting comfortably on his waist, as he felt the warmth of breath on his shoulder.

 _"I see you watching me…"_ A familiar voice whispered.  
Francis froze as he recognised the refined and pure royal accent, his heart raging out of control as those soft hands traced a line up his torso, before resting on his chest, feeling his heartbeat through his blouse.  
 _"I see why…"_

"I…" Francis gasped, having no idea how to respond to the ambitious Queens approach. With one hand remaining on the Kings heart, the other hand began to trace down his torso, lightly tugging at the buttons of Francis' blouse, as light kisses patted the base of Francis' neck. Francis gasped as the hands suddenly pulled him back, forcing him to fall back onto the bed, it was now that Francis finally got a good look at the man whom approached him.  
Arthur's eyes shone in the dim candle light, he was barely undressed, only missing the violet coat he had worn all day, a sly smile ran across the Queens lips as he crawled onto the bed, hovering over Francis.  
"But, what about—"

Francis was interrupted by a heavy kiss, his heart racing out of control as he instinctually griped at the Queens shoulder, hungrily accepting his embrace. Francis' hands grew a mind of his own, as he traced a heavy line from Arthur's thighs, all the way up his back and to the base of his hairline, embracing every inch of the beauty that hovered above him. Everywhere Arthur touched left a tingling sensation on Francis skin, as the kiss deepened and their hands wandered hovering closely to more sensitive areas, desperately wanting their bravery to allow them to take it further quickly. As the queen passionately attacked the King's neck with deep kisses and knowing with his teeth, Francis gripped at his partner's shoulders and dug in his nails, overwhelmed with the bliss and joy over what was happening.

Francis fought the urge to cry out in joy, only allowing grunts and moans to escape his lips. Arthur's noises only confirmed positive results, he gasped when Francis pinched his skin playfully, or massaged him sensually.

Arthur grumbled something as the couple rolled over, and Francis took his place between Arthur's legs, kissing the Queen again, Francis held him closely and embraced the glorious scent of Arthur's skin. Arthur's lips were of soft as Francis imagined, and were just as hungry for Francis as he dreamed…  
Francis broke the kiss to watch Arthur's face, Arthur smiled at him as their noses rubbed together lovingly, Arthur stared deeply into Francis' eyes, their green hue still glowing under Francis' shadow… unnaturally.  
Suddenly it clicked and Francis froze, staring down at Arthur with a confused frown, Arthur remained unfazed, still staring at Francis with lustful eyes, biting his lips hungrily, as though he was silently begging the king to continue.

The aching pain in his heart begged for this illusion to be real, he wanted this be real so badly, but as he began to think and rationalise, his dream slowly crept back towards reality, despite the desperate arguing from his heart, _"This isn't real…"_

Suddenly, Francis opened his eyes, to find that the candle was blown out, and the only source of light came from the full moon. The light revealed the silhouette of a man in black crouching at the end of his bed, watching the King like a gargoyle.

Francis groaned and gripped his hair in irritation, realising who it was… "Leave me alone."

"Did you have a nice dream?" The Joker asked.

"You are a _demon."_ Francis hissed.

"I know, but admit it, you would have done it, you would have taken him…" The Joker chuckled. "And you didn't even care to know what happened to his husband, how _scandalous."_

Francis rolled over, pressing his face into the fluffy pillow, "Why are you doing this? Stop trying to change me, I've made my choice: I am _not_ going to act!"

"Unless if he comes to you first," The Joker pointed out, smirking. "Fine, fine, I'll let you keep to your decision. I see that I can't even influence you in your dreams."

"Just leave me alone. I know that I am going to suffer, however, too much is at stake for me to be selfish…"

The Joker remained silent for a couple of moments, somewhat taken aback by the King's confession. "Fine then. Good luck, your majesty."


	3. Chapter 3

Francis could barely look at him… Every time he caught the Queen of Spades in the corner of his eye, he was struck by the image of Arthur crawling on top of him, with a seductive look in his eyes and hungry smile across his lips. However, Francis always had to remind himself that it wasn't real, it was only an illusion created by the Joker to taunt him. Francis' heart was in a constant state of anxiety, as it sunk like a mighty ship… But he knew that he had to stick with his decision, he wasn't going to give the Joker the entertainment.  
Too much was at risk for Francis to put his selfish desires above his kingdom.

"Are you ok, Francis?" Lili asked, placing her hand on Francis' shoulder; wondering why Francis had spent the last couple of minutes staring blankly at his breakfast.  
Francis glanced at Lili and smiled sweetly, her concern somewhat warming his heart, Francis quietly placed his hand on Lili's head and patted her like a child.

"I'm fine, thank you, I just had a disappointing sleep…" Francis mumbled. However, his confession did not seem to calm the young girl, as her wide eyes still stared at the King, like a concerned daughter.

"Are you sure?" Lili asked.

"Yes," Francis answered, "I'm just tired, I should be fine for the games and conference," Francis explained.  
Francis dreaded the idea of the games, it is a recently new tradition; it was designed for the Kings to demonstrate their physical skills… this is demonstrated by a Kings ability to shoot an arrow whilst riding on horseback.  
It was supposed to be a demonstration of a King's harmony with his horse, the agility it takes to remain upright and shoot an arrow, and the precision it takes to shoot the arrow at the target. Francis had been practicing for years, and had evolved his skills enough to become a master at it, perhaps this was his opportunity to assert himself among the Kings.  
The game was also introduced to ease the Kings into the historically stressful conference, which was expected to last late into the night, and leave the Monarchs feeling bitter towards each other: which the Ball was supposed to heal.

Despite how much he tried to distract himself with thoughts about the evening plans, or what he was going to talk about at the conference, Arthur still managed to crawl into his mind.  
Francis was tempted to indulge in this fantasy and imagine just what he would have done to the Queen of Spades, had he not been interrupted by his realisation. However, before he could become too involved in his lustful fantasy, he forced himself back into reality, determined to not tempt himself to give in.  
He didn't even greet the Spades that morning, he couldn't bear to look Arthur in the eyes and wish him a good day, without thinking about last night… Nor would he be able to look at Alfred, without thinking about his shameful fantasy.

However, he couldn't escape when the Spades approached him, complimenting how beautiful the Diamond landscape looked as the sun rose.  
"We wanted to speak to you about something, just something for you to consider before the conference starts. As we don't think we'll have another chance to speak to you privately during the games," Alfred began.

"When discussing how you're going to conduct your grain trade, we want you to consider the historic friendship between the Spades and the Diamonds," Arthur continued, until he caught Alfred looking at him for instruction, Arthur nodded at Alfred before continuing. "You see, the Kingdom of Spades needs this alliance now more than ever, as all of our focus is going towards gaining coal and steel."

"How can I help?" Francis asked.

"We need special consideration, perhaps you could … lower some prices for the trade to the Spade Kingdom?" Alfred asked.

"These prices have been set for years, I'd need to discuss it with the Jack and the Queen, I'm afraid," Francis explained, keeping his eyes on Alfred, rather than looking at Arthur and risking his fantasy from returning to his mind.

"Well, just consider us before accepting any deals from the other kingdoms," Arthur boldly stated, "in the end, a relationship with us will benefit the Diamonds. You see, the Spade kingdom has been encouraging inventors and innovators now than has ever done before. We have people who are planning to build boats and ships that do not rely on the wind, and transport that does not rely on horses, as well as weaponry."

"The Kingdom of Spades is beginning to go through and Industrial Revolution, and those are expensive. We just thought that the Diamonds would like to help push it forward, all we need is your cooperation: otherwise we will offer this to another Kingdom." Alfred explained.

"I will consider it." Francis murmured.

"Fine then, take your time… but be careful with it, as we plan to share this with the other Kingdoms at some point during our stay," Arthur concluded. "If you choose to accept this offer, you will be seeing a lot more of us, and the alliance between the Spades and the Diamonds will be stronger than ever."

Arm in arm, Arthur and Alfred turned away and walked away as the Jack of Diamonds announced the movement of the monarchs to the Diamond gardens, where the games are to take place.  
Francis thought heavily about the Spades offer as he rode his carriage towards the famously beautiful Diamond Gardens, considering whether it was worth it. It seems that his feelings for Arthur wasn't the only risk to the alliance… If Francis was to turn this down, he'd risk giving another Kingdom that precious relationship that he had with the Spades.

"How much are they asking for?!" Vash hissed, tightening his grip on the velvet red seating of the carriage.

"I don't know, they just told me to consider them…" Francis murmured.

"I can only wonder what they've built…" Antonio grimaced, "these developments could totally shift the balance of power between the Kingdoms."

"They're teasing, I bet they've already told the other Kingdoms about their plans, and are simply going to choose which is most profitable," Vash hissed.

"What if they really are just thinking about our alliance? And really want to give us a window to decide?" Lili asked.

"Monarchs aren't that considerate," Vash pointed out, "If we were sitting on something as large as this, I would advise Francis to do the exact thing I predicted, because it is _working._ "

"Well… Arthur seems like a nice person, and I don't believe Alfred would want to hurt us…" Lili muttered.

"That's what they want you to think, they've already got you to refer to them by name. They've fit right in to this game of politics," Vash grumbled at his little sister.

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic? The Spade monarchs are completely new to this _'game',"_ Antonio pointed out, "They haven't been on the throne for even a year."

"I guess that really depends on what instructions the late King and Queen gave them," Vash muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Whether they were taught everything beforehand, or are expected to learn as they go along."

"What do you think of the offer itself, rather than the motives behind it?" Francis asked.

"It really depends on how much they're asking for; this is obviously an invitation for me to confront the Jack of Spades…" Vash murmured. "I'll talk to him during the games and then report back to you with my advice on the way back to the castle. For now, I don't know how I feel about this."

"Imagine what an industrial revolution could be like here, I can only imagine what they're building," Antonio gasped as he smiled with wonder.

"I can try to talk to Arthur about it, and get some information about what they're building," Lili proposed, "he seems to like me, so maybe he'll talk."

"You can try," Vash agreed, "The Queen of Spades absolutely adores you, as do the Clubs. I guess having a young Queen is an advantage."

The carriage rolled to a stop, and the carriage driver opened the door to the carriage, Francis stepped out of the carriage and into the embrace of the bright spring sun, as well as the strong glare of the colourful flowers.  
Every time monarchs visited the Diamond Kingdom, a visit to the Diamond Gardens was on the to-do list, as the gardens beauty and historical importance to the Kingdom of Diamonds was always an amazing conversation starter, as well as something beautiful to encourage the other monarchs to love the Diamond Kingdom.

The diamond gardens was also home to a decorative horse-racing course, which for today was decorated in the symbols of each kingdom, and bullseye targets lined along the track, opposite the wooden stands, giving the royals a perfect view.  
Eventually, every monarch and their Ace had arrived at the Gardens, marvelling at the skill and dedication shown in the decoration of the gardens, as well as the general beauty of the Diamond landmark.

The horses were decorated in the symbolic colours of each Kingdom, and to match each king's riding gear.

First, the Francis stood on the race track, in front of the horses, and loudly thanked the other monarchs for attending, and wished everyone luck. Despite there being no prize for the winner, it was the spirit of competition and friendliness that drives to strengthen the relationships between each kingdom through harmless sport.  
Then Vash took his spot as the horses were led away, awaiting their designated King's turn. Vash explained the rules and the aim of the game, pointing out that each King had two chances to score a better mark with their arrows.

It was King Ludwig who was announced first, Francis smiled, remembering the young King's first ever time competing, and how much of a difficult time he had remaining balanced on his horse and using his arms to position his bow and arrow. This time, Ludwig's practice was evident as he encouraged his white horse into a gallop, and he immediately arched his back and raised his bow, positioning the arrow and aiming. As his horse dashed past the target, Ludwig released his arrow, and it hit almost directly in the middle of the target, giving him an impressive first score.

Francis was the next King to mount his horse; he patted the caramel coloured fur of his steed, before taking his bow and arrow. He pulled out his golden coat from bellow him, letting it sit behind him, well aware that it would flow behind him as the horse ran, creating a beautiful illusion of colour. This was the fifth time that Francis was competing in this sport, thus is the most experienced out of all of the monarchs, and he knew that he had to be impressive. His horse jolted into a gallop, and he straightened his back as he prepared to aim his arrow, unwilling to bend to the weight of the stares upon him, especially that of Arthur, and perhaps even the Joker. Francis knew that the Joker wouldn't pass the opportunity to watch the Diamond King fight his temptation to the Queen of Spades. Francis couldn't deny that the urge to impress Arthur was a driving motivation to score well, with the Queen in his mind, Francis braced his arms forward and aimed the arrow and shot as the horse ran past. Francis scored an impressive mark, hitting somewhat near the middle, as the horse trotted back to the stable Francis looked back to the monarch who watched, and couldn't help but notice Alfred and Arthur, Alfred was preparing to leave so he could prepare for his turn, however before he left he pulled Arthur in for a kiss.  
Francis looked away before he could analyse how meaningful that kiss was, unwilling to give the Joker something to laugh at.

Francis returned to the stands and made his way towards Arthur, sitting down beside him.

"That was a good shot," Arthur admitted, "you've obviously worked hard on it."

"Five years of practice, is this Alfred's first time doing this?" Francis asked.

"He's been practising ever since he found out that it was a thing," Arthur replied, "He'll do perfectly."  
Francis sat in silence, fiddling with his hands as Arthur stared at the race-track, waiting for Alfred to appear on his black horse.  
"Have you thought about our proposal?"

"Our Jacks should be talking about it as we speak," Francis pointed out.

"And before you ask, I have spoken to Lili, that sweetheart wanted to know exactly what we were building back home," Arthur chuckled, "that girl is such a darling, I nearly crumbled when she offered to have me over to have tea..."

"She has that effect…" Francis mumbled.

"We are developing ships that do not need to rely on the wind, carriages that don't need horses… even developing new weaponry, the first great Spade invention was gas-lighting, and that had revolutionised the way all kingdoms lived, imagine what we can do in the second wave of industrial revolution." Arthur explained, his eyes widening with wonder.  
Francis was hopeless to fight back the Queens powerful gaze, captivated by the spirit in his forest green eyes, Francis now didn't imagine taking the Queen to bed, but rather, pictured the intimate moments…

"Amazing…" Francis muttered, unsure about whether he was speaking about the Spades innovations, or the Queen himself.

"However, we are getting desperate and it's getting hard to keep up those innovations, and we are willing to do anything to make sure that it doesn't crumble," Arthur stated, his eyes narrowing as his stare of wonder turned into a glare of seriousness, showing the Diamond King a pair of eyes he had never seen from the Queen of Spades. "By any means required; we will change the world."  
Francis didn't know whether to take this as a threat or not, however, he could no longer look into Arthurs eyes, as the Queen turned away to watch his King gallop out of the stable, holding his bow and arrow.  
Alfred straightened his back and lifted his bow as he aimed the arrow, remaining balanced and poised as his dark horse galloped down the racetrack. Alfred released the arrow, shooting a near perfect score, as his horse finished its lap and reduced its speed to a canter; Alfred looked at the other monarchs, however focussed only on Arthur, before glaring at Francis as though he was deep in thought, until he disappeared into the stable.

Alfred returned to his place by Arthur's side as King Ivan left the stands to prepare for his turn, and Ludwig braced himself to go after him, following the encouragement he received from his Jack, whilst the Queen of hearts watched on with amusement.

Once again, Ludwig shot a perfect score with the arrow, achieving the closest shot to a bullseye than any of the other Kings had done, giving him a good chance to be the winner.

Francis went again, once again pushing himself to cope with the heavy stares of the other monarchs, as well as the heavy weight Arthur left on his heart. He earned himself a nice score; however he knew that Ludwig had beaten him, judging by how perfect the Heart King's last shot was.

When he returned to the stands, he expected Alfred to rise from his seat and prepare to leave, however, Francis frowned when he saw Arthur rise instead, and remove his violet coat, revealing his suit underneath, a tanned waistcoat held together his white blouse, where a bow was tied around his collar, tanned pants covered his legs, however black boots reached above his knees.

"What's going on?" Francis asked.

"I'm going to have a turn," Arthur announced, catching the attention of the other monarchs, who were shocked at the Spades blatant disregard of tradition. "I'm better at it than Alfred, so why shouldn't I have a go?"

"It's always been a display of the strength of the King," Ludwig pointed out.

Arthur smirked at the King of Hearts, "What's a King without their Queen?"  
Without another word, Arthur turned around and left the stand before walking to the stable, much to the shock of the stable hands.

"I let him do what he wants _: happy Queen; happy Kingdom, am I right?"_ Alfred chuckled; however, his smile disappeared when he saw the bitter glares to the other royals. Francis took a seat next to the King of Spades, and stared at the younger man who looked at his hands in thought. "Arthur and I are going to change the world, and the littlest things matter, and it's going to start during this conference."

"But why?" Francis asked, "Has the Spade revolution changed the Kingdom that much?"

"Of course it has, revolutions challenge everything that Kingdoms have ever known. We're not going to sit back and let it pass us, we must act in order to catch up with these new ideas." Alfred snapped, turning to look at the Diamond King, "We decided that we are going to do things that no King and Queen had ever done before, the first step of that was our marriage."

"You married him to make a statement?" Francis asked, frowning.

"No, we married from our own free will: we were just lucky with that one." Alfred pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Francis.

Francis watched with amazement as Arthur's dark horse broke into a gallop, and the Queen arched his back and aimed his arrow with one graceful movement, before releasing it as his horse ran past, achieving an amazing score.  
"He's amazing…" Alfred sighed, hopelessly smitten.

"I know…" Francis agreed; he felt the King of Spades head sharply turn to look at Francis, realising his mistake, Francis turned his head in the opposite direction, scratching his beard, trying his best to ignore the stare of the King of Spades.

However, the Spades defiance was not in vain, as the Queen of Clubs made it her personal mission to go next and Ivan was powerless to stop her. She shot an impressive score, and smiled at Arthur with appreciation before running to the fellow Queen and shaking his hand, thanking him for the idea.

Perhaps the Spades were onto something … challenging the tradition of Kings only competing in the games changed the way the Kings saw their relationship with their Queens.  
Francis could only wonder what else the Spade Monarchs were planning to change.


	4. Chapter 4

Every King, Queen, Jack and Ace woke up in the morning, absolutely dreading the day before them, as former monarchs always describe annual conferences as the most stressful and frustrating time of the year. Francis, being the most experienced monarch amongst the Kingdoms, having attended five of these conferences, knows this to be true.  
Territorial claims  
National security and Military advancement  
Trade agreements  
Treaties and laws  
and even more are discussed in detail and argued over. It brings out the worst of a monarchs personality, as the wellbeing of their kingdom overshadows any manners and consideration for the other Kingdoms. The conference is a bigger event, as it involves all kingdoms, and eliminates any private discussions between exclusive kingdoms. In some way: it is a chance for everyone to make their claim at another Kingdom like they wouldn't have before. It eliminates the privilege of privacy, as well as gives the host-Kingdom a chance to show off their worth.

It had been working in the Diamonds favour; the other Kingdoms were impressed by the grandeur of the Kingdom, the extravagance of the feasts, the lovely displays throughout the entire Kingdom, as well as the friendly palace staff.

"Vash!" Francis announced, as he made his way into the bright office of his Jack, startling the blonde who sat at the desk, frowning at a letter. "What are we going to do about the Spades deal?"

"I spoke to Yao during the games and again during the banquet. They were asking for too much from us, so the Spades are going to announce their request during the conference." Vash explained, "Yao gave me a letter of reference, it explains the spades advancements in iron and steel production, and the toll it is taking on their agriculture…"

"So… that's why they came to us first. We have the supplies they need the most."

"You can try to push the Spades to sweeten the deal a little more, you have the advantage here: we are the most agriculture invested Kingdom." Vash explained, "Yao is working on a solution … the Spades want the deal, they want to work with us, we just need to make them give us some room to move."

"We can use the conference for that, the pressure of the other Kingdoms will be large—"

"Though we need to be careful, the other Kingdoms will bite at this opportunity, especially when they find out what the Spades have planned."

"What do they have?" Francis asked.

"There's a ship in development that runs on coal, rather than the wind. They are focussing on turning the Spades capital into an industrialised city with factories and large public buildings, and there are plans to create even more." Vash explained, "They plan to show off all of these advancements in their glory in three years, when it is the Spades turn to host the conference."

"Alright…" Francis sighed. "And just follow the plans discussed about the other Kingdoms."

"Feliciano says that the Hearts are looking forward to achieving some investment, the Spades and the Hearts have made a deal for the exchange of coal and steel." Vash explained, "However, when the topic of Hearts bidding for the Northern Territories that were taken by the Clubs is brought up, do not say anything. Do not say that the Clubs should give the land back, or should keep it, we can't risk damaging any relationship between us and either of them."

"Fine," Francis pointed out, he knew that he had to follow Vash's advice regardless of his personal opinion. During the last war, a section of the Heartlands northern territories was taken by the Clubs, and wasn't given back after the war ended. The territory is claimed by the Clubs, despite a majority of the population still identifying with the Hearts…  
After more discussion, Francis left Vash's office in order to return to his quarters in order to finish getting himself ready for the conference, which was due to start in a couple of more hours.

However, Francis froze before he turned past a corner in the hallway when he heard a noise and chuckle, "SHHH! DON'T! NOT HERE!"

"Why not?"

"Because we're guests, you fool! Someone could walk by here!"

Francis peeked around the corner, and instantly widened his eyes at the sight of two blue coats dancing around the hallway, until the taller one pressed the other against the wall bringing them closer together; they stared at each other with an intensely loving look in his eyes.  
Alfred leaned in before giving Arthur a sweet peck on the lips.

Arthur hissed, pushing his King away from him playfully, "we need to find Yao and sort out what we're going to do about—"  
Francis felt his heart sink as Alfred simply kissed Arthur again; quickly he turned back and pressed his back against the wall, pressing the palm of his hand against his lips in order to silence his gasp.

"Oh you're so serious," Alfred chuckled. "Did you have a rough sleep? Do need some tea?"

"Don't patronise me. We're here on business, this isn't a retreat," Arthur hissed.

"Come on… Just a little…"

"You are absolutely terrible."  
Despite the insult, Arthur was laughing, and Alfred chuckled in response, before there was the noise of another kiss.

"I know. I'm _shocking."_

"I can't believe you."

"Come on, you love it, I know you do."  
Francis heard Alfred chuckle, until he heard the Spades monarchs move around, until there was a soft thud of someone's back pressing against the wall. Francis closed his eyes and tried his best to block out any noise that the couple made, as he frantically tried to remember another route to his quarters that did not involve that hallway.  
The King became dizzy and his heart ached, he could already imagine the loud laughter of the Joker, whom with no doubt would love the comedy of the situation.  
After a couple of moments of silence from the two, Francis' curiosity overcame him and he tilted past the corner, and he instantly regretted it because of the sight he saw.

This time, it was Alfred whose back was against the wall, and Arthur was the one acting. He watched the queen's lips move across the sensitive skin of his king's neck. Alfred was frowning and grunting at the sensation, biting his lips when Arthur deepened the kiss. Suddenly, Alfred's eyes shot open and glanced to the side, making eye contact with Francis.  
Francis gasped as he pulled himself away from the corner.

"Is someone there?" Alfred asked.

Francis swallowed his anxiety and stepped out from behind the corner, at the sight of him; Arthur covered his embarrassed face with his hands, and buried his head into Alfred's chest, which only increased the painful ache in Francis' heart.  
"Was I interrupting something?" Francis asked confidently smiling at Alfred, who only stared at him with narrowed eyes.

The King of Spades quickly regained himself and smiled at the other King, not showing any signs of remorse of regret for his actions, "We apologise."

"This is embarrassing," Arthur growled, before he turned away from Alfred to face Francis, revealing his rosy cheeks. "We were wondering if you have seen our Jack."

"I'm sorry, Arthur, I'm afraid I haven't," Francis replied as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying his best to hide his insecurity through authority.  
Trying to not let the sight bother him, Francis quickly made his way down the hallway, not looking back at the Spades, determined to prepare himself for the conference.

Finally, the time had come for the conference to begin; Francis placed his golden crown upon his head, feeling the weight of the headgear press down on his golden locks of hair. He took a deep breath as he opened the doors to the conference hall, this year, the location of the conference was a grand ballroom, where four desks formed a circle, and each branded with the symbol of each kingdom and decorated with flowers to match the colours. The ace of each Kingdom stood behind the desk, each holding the signature weapon of the Kingdom, the Spades had a sword, the Clubs had bows and arrows, the Hearts had a long double-edged spear, and the Diamonds had a long handled axe. The Aces watched each King, Queen and Jack take their places at their designated tables, signalling the beginning of the conference.

It was Francis who stood first, following procedure he spoke about the importance of the conference in terms of fairness and negotiation, as well as its fundamental importance in maintaining peace and alliance.  
Vash rose after Francis sat down, reading from a script, he recalled the advancement of the Diamonds and the desire to increase trade.  
Roderich, the Jack of Clubs rose afterwards, the expressed the wishes of the Clubs to invest in the growing development of the Diamonds, as well as intrigue into repairing the relationship between the Clubs and the Spades through the rewriting of their current treaty.  
Yao, the Jack of Spades went next, rising to announce the emergence of an industrial revolution occurring within the Kingdom of Spades, and issued a call for negotiations for grain and agriculture in order to support the Spades indoors, and reminded the other monarchs that the rewards of assisting them would be beneficial.  
Finally the Jack of Hearts, a young man named Feliciano, stood and announced the hearts mining boom would be beneficial for anyone hoping to industrialise; with a wink to the Spades. However, the attitude in the room changed when Feliciano announced that the Hearts are interested in getting back the land that was taken from the Hearts by the Clubs during the last war. All eyes went to the King and the Queen of Clubs, whom stared at the Hearts with a glare of underlying anger and frustration.

"That territory has been associated with the clubs for generations now, there is no point in giving it back since we have made so much use of it," Ivan explained.

"Then why do so many people living in that territory consider themselves to be of Hearts?" Ludwig asked, "The land was originally heart territory, when you give it back, the heartlands will be in unity again."

 _"When?"_ Elizabeta asked, "You seem awfully bold, King Ludwig. However, the land has been completely utilised by the Clubs, there is no point in returning it if it will only heighten a couple of peoples morale."

"We call for a vote then," Kiku announced. "In order to establish ownership of the Northern region _,_ the Hearts vote for: The Hearts."

Ivan smiled at Kiku's bold statement, sending a chill down the spine of everyone present at the conference, "In order to establish ownership of the Northern region, the Clubs vote for: the Clubs."

"The Diamonds abstain from the vote, we acknowledge that our choice to abstain eliminates us from contributing to the decision and the results of the decision," Francis explained.

All eyes fell to the King of Spades; Alfred sat comfortably in his chair, exerting the opposite attitude of everyone who sat beside him. "In order to establish the ownership of the Northern region, the Spades vote for: the Hearts."

The roof erupted into chaos, the Hearts were visibly happy, whilst the Clubs displayed the opposite, "Why did you not abstain!?" Ivan snapped at the Spades.

"Because we believe that the territory should go back to the hearts!" Alfred responded gnarling his teeth at the Clubs.  
Because of this, any chance of friendship between the Clubs and the Spades has been dissolved.

"Now we have the push we need," Ludwig announced, before looking at the Clubs, "either you give us our land back, or we will take it!"

"Go on then, do it, _I dare you!"_ Elizabeta hissed.

"Now that a decision has been reached, we are obliged to organise the outcome, however, since only three of us engaged in the vote, this has to be postponed," Yao explained.

"You ingrate, you're proud of this!" Ivan hissed at the Spades.

"Why would we not be, we're just saying our opinion, besides, I wouldn't pick a fight with us _Clubs,_ " Alfred snickered.

"You are not the superior ones here," Ivan pointed out. "And I suggest that you tell your Ace to stop looking at me like that."

"You can tell yours the same thing." Alfred hissed. "Matthew can look at who he wants he's better than to attack you … at least, not without my orders…"  
Attention was brought to the Aces of Spade and Club, whom stared at the opposing King with a glare of malicious intent and underlying anger.

"Everyone calm!" Francis snapped, and the room fell to silence. "We should not let personal opinions interfere with the importance of this conference, the Spades, Clubs and Heart will sort out the territorial claim later."

"He's right," Arthur agreed, "now, onto another matter, which is willing to invest in an industrial revolution, the Kingdom who chooses to commit the most to our cause will reap the benefits of our advancement."

"It depends on what the advancement is." Ivan pointed out, still bitter from the earlier exchange.

"Boats that do not require wind to move, weaponry beyond what any of us could ever imagine, tools which can revolutionise the way that clothing and fabric is made. Soon the Spades will be an industrial superpower; we just don't want any of the other kingdoms to be left behind…" Arthur continued.  
Francis caught the eyes of the King of Spades focussing on him, as though waiting for him to make his move.  
"We are not asking for too much, just some agreements to help the revolution keep on its feet."

"What will be given to us in return?" Francis asked, "And just what are you asking for?"

"Simple, deductions on the prices we have to pay for supplies to come in, and in return, your kingdom will get the same prices on the exports we will develop because of this boom. As well as instructions on how to achieve the same things as us, in terms of structures and machinery." Alfred explained, "I think you guys are silly for not jumping at the chance, no one wants to be left behind."

The room fell to silence, as Kings consulted with their Jacks, deciding whether they can afford to undertake the Spades offer.  
King Ludwig was first to speak, "We will take it on, we shall offer you a lower price on our coal. We shall disclose this later."

Francis could still feel Alfred's stare, however, he needed to remain composed, he couldn't risk looking at Alfred and being pressured into talking, or looking at Arthur and risk being caught staring by Alfred, as he had already been noticed a couple of times.

Even the Clubs were tempted by the Spades deal, mainly because the Spades had used the word 'Weaponry' in their list of advancements. Alfred was right in saying that no one wanted to be left behind.

"The Kingdom of Diamonds offer assistance in terms of agriculture and grain sources," Francis pointed out, Vash nodded at him in response, understanding why the offer was too large to ignore.

The discussions lasted until the sun began to set, the sky outside of the window glowed with a deep red hue. The Diamond could consider themselves successful, as they managed to get a deal with the Clubs, as well as participated in the offer of the Spades, however, the negotiations were far from over. Thanks to the Spades interference, there was now a territorial dispute between the Clubs and Hearts, as well as discussions that will determine just how much everyone will have to pay in order to complete the deal with the Spades.

However, the Monarchs were sworn to silence, it was not in good spirit for negotiations to continue during the ball.

"That was terrible…" Lili sighed.

"That's why there's always a ball after this, so monarchs don't leave absolutely hating each other. It forces everyone to come together as friends, rather than associates," Francis chuckled.

"I can't wait for that," Lili pointed out as she smiled sweetly, "Everything will look so pretty."

Francis smiled at the sight of the sweet young girl, at he patted his hand on her head before the door to her chambers closed, and he made his way to his own chambers.  
The night was far from over, festivities awaited the Diamond king. However, his stomach was filling with a sick anticipation as well as anxiety…  
Only the ball could tell him what he was so afraid of…


	5. Chapter 5

Francis gasped at the sight of LilI in her ballgown, as she looked just like a princess. The petticoat formed the golden dress into a bell-shape, with a tear in the centre of the dress that opened like curtains to reveal a frilled white fabric. Delicate gold chains lined around sections of the dress, with little diamond shaped charms hanging off along the chain.  
"You look lovely…." Francis gasped.

Lili smiled sweetly as she curtsied, "I'm glad you like it!"  
Francis chuckled, feeling the heavy crown weigh down his head. Kings only ever dress so nicely for the ball, as it is one of the few times that the eyes of every monarch is on them. Francis wore a long deep-golden coat, with diamonds lining along the edges and forming the shapes of the buttons. Underneath this he wore his finest suit.  
Linked arm in arm, Francis and Lili turned to face the grand doors, smiling at the guards who held the doors closed.

"PRESENTING, THE REIGNING KING AND QUEEN OF THE KINGDOM OF DIAMONDS!" Vash's voice announced from the other side of the door. As trumpets blew the heavy doors were pushed open, giving Francis and Lili the space to step forward and reveal themselves to the crowded ballroom. At the bottom of the wide staircase stood a large crowd of nobles from all kingdoms.  
Francis and Lili walked down the stairs as the nobles applauded, Francis was use to being shown off in the name of his kingdom, he smiled widely, letting everyone in the room be amazed by his glow.  
Francs and Lili took their place at the bottom, of the staircase, as the young Jack of Hearts swapped places with Vash.

"PRESENTING, THE REIGNING KING AND QUEEN OF THE KINGDOM OF HEARTS!"

Ludwig and Kiku wore robes of splashing colours, varying from a deep red, to pink, both incredibly formal, however, only pieces of Ludwig's suit could be seen from underneath the furry layer of his long cloak. Kiku wore more traditional robes, with heart embroidery creating an intriguing detail along the cloth.  
They stood across from the Diamonds, impressed by the wide and bright spacing of the ballroom.

"PRESENTING, THE REIGNING KING AND QUEEN OF THE KINGDOM OF CLUBS!" The Jack of Clubs announced as the doors opened once again, and the Green King and Queen entered the ballroom, letting the light and the eyes of the nobles embrace them.  
Ivan wore his long green cloak, clubs lines along with the edge as designs of branches spread from along the hem and towards the centre of the cloak, and soft white fluff and fur lined the ends of his large sleeves and along the edges of his cloak, as though to resemble the snowy terrain of the Kingdom of Clubs.  
Whilst Elizabeta wore and extravagant black and green gown, resembling the opposite ideas to her King, but yet she created balance between the two of them. Her frills lined the ends of her dress, revealing the black layer of the dress underneath. Her shoulders remained bare and her princess sleeves reached her elbows.  
After the clubs took their place at the bottom of the staircase, the Jack of Spades took his place.  
"PRESENTING THE REIGNING KING AND QUEEN OF THE KINGDOM OF SPADES!"

Francis had been trying to prepare himself for this moment, however, he still wasn't ready. Gravity tightened its grip on the diamond King as he watched the King and queen of spades enter the ballroom.  
Alfred wore the royal blue cloak that was decorated with spades, and his suit underneath.  
However, it was Arthur who caught the Kings attention, despite the grandeur of his Royal robes, Arthurs eyes were the most captivating part of him.  
The couple looked grand and regal, both wearing suits of their national colours with touches of black and gold and crowns upon their heads.  
They walked down the stairs and their cloaks trailed behind them, Francis couldn't help but notice their linked hands, however, he shielded his feelings behind a smile. Just like how he had been for the past couple of days.  
He viciously fought of the mental image of Arthur crawling on top of him and seeing the hunger plaguing those beautiful eyes, by reminding himself that it was fake; only an illusion as the hands of a cruel legendary trickster.  
Their eyes met as Arthur and Alfred reached the bottom of the staircase, and the imagine forced itself into Francis' mind like a cannonball. He could remember the feeling of those pale lips against his, his nails dig into his skin as he held him, the beating of his heart as he pressed Arthur into the mattress with his body … No… Francis snapped, forcing himself out of this fantasy, reminding himself that it wasn't real.

Francis dreaded the next couple of minutes more than he dreaded the rest of the evening, as it was customary for each King to share a dance with each queen, it was for something about symbolising intimacy between the kingdoms.  
As the music began, the Kings formed a wide circle around the Queens, and the queens stood shoulder to shoulder and walked in a circle, each queen facing a different King.  
With the drums as a guide, the queens stepped towards their new King, Francis held Kiku's hand as they traced a circle around each other, staring each other in the eyes.  
The smaller man smiled at the King.  
"We understand why you abstained from the vote," Kiku pointed out.

"We cannot afford to be on anyone's bad side," Francis replied. "However, we wish you luck in getting your land back."

"We appreciate that," Kiku nodded until he danced away, and was replaced by Elizabeta, she followed the movement of the music and linked hands with Francis and performed the same dance as Kiku.

"I just danced with Alfred," Elizabeta pointed out as she chuckled, "he and Arthur only learned how to do this just over a week ago. How cute~!"

"Oh,"'Francis chuckled, as he twirled the green Queen under his arm, "how nice… did he speak about his vote?"

"No, however, Ivan is still seething over that," Elizabeta pointed out, "it was not his problem, but yet they chose to intervene…"  
"But what would have happened had they abstained as well? It would have been a stale vote." Francis explained, Elizabeta smiled at him as she danced away.

"Everything would have been peaceful."  
Francis frowned as he turned away, only to watch Arthur dance towards him, before taking his hand.

"Everyone is still talking about the votes. It is driving me crazy." Arthur hissed, as he and Francis leant into each other, to follow the pattern of closeness and eye contact that is required with the dance. At this point the music slowed, so their movements slowed as they slowly walked around each other, arms linked.

"Well, let's talk about something else then," Francis chuckled.

Arthur tilted his head to look up at the King, his eyes were wide with intrigue, "very well, how was your sleep?"  
Francis was immediately bombarded with perverted and lustful mental images of Arthur, much to his own pain. Despite his effort, his reaction to the thoughts showed on his face.  
"What was that face for?" Arthur chuckled with a frown, "you didn't have a nightmare, did you?"

Francis chuckled at the irony, "not at all…"  
Time felt as though it moved slowly, Francis pulled Arthur into him as he twirled the queen under his arm, catching Arthurs intense stare. The Kings heart beat as his hand trembled at Arthurs touch, however, the pain began as he danced away as quickly as he came  
Francis' eyes lingered on the queen, watching him return to his rightful king…  
However, he focussed on Lili to complete their part of the dance.

As the night dragged on, the Kings and queens socialised over drinks and music. Despite the pain in his heart, Francis couldn't fight the temptation to hover around Arthur, despite him being constantly attached to Alfred's arm.  
Every monarch and noble smiled at the sight and noise of a children's choir, all decorated with the symbols of each kingdom painted over their eyes. Their voices echoed through the ballroom and sang along with the band, they sang along with a man who was renowned throughout the diamond kingdom for having one of the most beautiful voices.  
Francis couldn't tell whether the alcohol was pushing him forward, or some other force, but as soon as Alfred parted from Arthurs side, he saw his chance.

With courage and using the ending of the current song as a cue to act,, Francis approached Arthur and extended his hand towards the queen.

"Would you like to dance with me?"  
Arthur smiled and took Francis' hand.

"I suppose there's no harm," Arthur replied.  
Francis tried to compose his face and hands as he led Arthur towards the centre of the ballroom. Arthur smiled nervously as Francis placed a hand on his waist and drew him in closer, whilst Arthur placed a hand on Francis shoulder, whilst their free hands connected.

The children began to sing their next song, following the prompt of the band and the man leading them.  
"Dès le premier jour, ton parfum enivra mon amour,  
Et dans ces instants,  
J'aimerais être comme toi par moments,  
Mais depuis ce jour,  
Je n'ai qu'un seul et unique regret…"

Francis took a bold step forward, encouraging Arthur to move with him, stepping in time with the high best of the song. Keeping their eyes locked, Francis and Arthur danced circles around the centre of the ballroom.

"You have set your heart on haunting me forever, from the start,  
It's never silent…" the singer sang over the children's hums, continuing the song.

Francis could only look down at Arthur, mesmerised at the fact that he could get this close … But yet he fought off these feelings that plagued his heart, as well as the urge to mercilessly kiss the queen.  
But yet… His anxiety and fear kept him at a literal arms length. He could only watch and wish….  
He could just simply lean in and take Arthur into his arms and make his feelings known with a kiss, or even pull him in and whisper and whisper those three precious words…  
No… No… He can't… There's too much at risk for his kingdom, besides: despite how much Francis wanted to ignore it: Arthur is married. He is a queen to another kingdom, and is in love with its King…  
Despite this, they danced beautifully, and caught the eye of everyone present, including the other dancers, whom moved to make room for the King of diamonds and the queen of spades. Most were amazed by the sight of two kingdoms uniting through a dance, and we're happy to see the change. The dance floor became a sea of gold and royal blue as they danced around the ballroom.  
However, despite the beauty and the grandeur of the ballroom and the power of the music, all Francis could focus on was Arthur, and to control the temptation to make him his…  
All Francis had to do was look at Arthur to be reminded of these facts, as well as be tempted to forget it all. He fantasised about acting out his actions, however, in every scenario: it ends terribly.  
Francis gasped when Arthur stopped moving, before letting go of the King, and clapped to congratulate the children and the band for the completion of the song.

"That was rather pleasant," Arthur admitted before glancing around the ballroom, and chuckled to himself, "I should return to Alfred, I promised him a dance."

"I see…" Francis muttered as he released his grip on Arthur, "you should."

"Thank you for that, it was nice," Arthur nodded avoiding Francis' stare, before walking off..

"Arthur!" Francis called out, catching the queens attention, Arthur looked back at Francis. With his heart beating Francis thought of something to say, before deciding and giving in to his temptations, "je t'aime."

Arthur frowned, unable to understand Francis native tongue, as it originated from the southern state of the Diamond Kingdom. "What?"

"Never mind." Francis shrugged, pretending he had said something simple and un-meaningful. "Sorry…"  
The reality kept onto the King, as he thought about what had just happened and the anxiety returned, all he could think about was Arthur returning to Alfred and telling him what happened, like he had figured him out. Francis felt as though his chest was tightening… He struggled to breathe as he pushed himself through the crowd, determined to get to the balcony, desperate for fresh air.  
He pushed open the glass doors, embracing the cool Spring air and the shine of the moonlight. Francis knelt against the balcony, looking down at the extravagant courtyard bellow, that was decorated with trees, flowers and a fountain.

Francis took deep breath of the fresh air, however, it didn't calm his anxiety. Francis' eyes widened when he heard the noise of someone clapping coming from nearly, Francis looked to the large tree that stood by the balcony, to see a dark figure standing on a large branch.  
"You…"

"Me~!" The Joker chuckled, waving his hands, "I came to say, that was a rather sweet dance…"

"Ohh god…" Francis moaned as he hung his head, unsure about whether it was his nerves, or the alcohol that made his body sway.

"May I say… That was… Interesting…" The joker pointed out as he walked along the branch, his weight not at all impacting the branch as it became thinner at the end. "You vow to never act on your feelings, yet you ask him to dance and seriously contemplate fucking the rules and kissing him! WOW! You don't need me at all!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU DEMON!" Francis hissed at the Joker. The Joker remained unfazed by the Kings insult.

"And..? Come on, that can't be the worst thing you want to call me," The joker spat, "I'm only observing what's going on, and letting you know that you're on the road to ruin. But yet, you already know that."

"You showed me that vision of Arthur last night-"

"You were thinking of it anyway, it was a product of your imagination, and come on: you liked it."  
Francis bit his tongue and stared down at the courtyard, unwilling to give in to the Jokers taunts and admit fault.  
"You want him. But you're smarter than that: you know that you can't have him… Too much is at risk for you to be selfish…"

"I know…"

"Out of everyone, your heart just had to pick the married one…" The joker chuckled, "his husband certainly wouldn't appreciate that."  
Francis didn't reply, instead he continued to stare down at the fountain. "Oh. Speaking of. Look behind you."

Francis gasped as he looked upward and turned around, only to see a figure in a royal blue coat walking towards him, with oceanic eyes staring at him from behind rectangular frames.  
"Alfred-"

"Lovely evening, isn't it?" The King of Spades asked, with a smile worn across his lips, however: Francis knew that the evening weather was the last thing on the young Kings mind…


	6. Chapter 6

Francis quietly gasped when he saw the look in Alfred's eyes, the King turned to face the tree, to see that the joker had disappeared, however, the Jokers laughter continued to roar in his mind, agitating the king. Francis felt his heart tense from the fear, as he somewhat knew what plagued the mind of the king of spades.

"Indeed…" Francis muttered, trying his best to not sound as terrified as he felt. "It's no wonder that the conference is held during this time of year."

"The sea is calm and the sky is clear the flowers greet us every day…" Alfred continued as he stood beside Francis, resting his elbows on the marble fencing of the balcony. "The night is more forgiving."

"I see," Francis agreed, keeping his gaze focused on the tree; however he could feel Alfred's heavy stare weigh him down. Francis knew what was wrong, and that everything he feared was about to hit him, and he couldn't stop it…

"Arthur and I married during the spring," Alfred pointed out, narrowing his eyes as a smile crossed his lips, however, he frowned with curiosity, as though he was experimenting. "We danced under the light of the moon as people released sky lanterns… it was so romantic…"

"How sweet…" Francis whispered, trying his best to appear calm, and as though Alfred's boast hadn't pierced him in the heart.

"That night we decided that we were going to change the world, we were going to face the challenges that other monarchs wouldn't. Inspire innovation and stop for nothing." Alfred continued to explain; the young king took a deep breath and crossed his arms before continuing with a louder voice, a voice that sent a shiver down Francis' spine. "However. Extramarital and inter-Kingdom affairs are not going to be one of them!"

Francis gasped as he turned to look at the younger King, shocked by his boldness. "I—"

"You're not very good at controlling your wandering eye," Alfred continued, his eyes narrowing and baring his teeth as he spoke.

"It's not like that!" Francis replied putting his hands up in defence as he took a step back from the young King, watching his worst nightmare become real in front of him, Francis knew that he should have been prepared for this confrontation, however, he was nowhere near ready to handle the anxiety. "I s-swear!"

"Spare me!" Alfred hissed, "You freeze when you see him, you become nervous and panicked when I'm around him. I catch you staring at him like a hungry wolf! How vulgar!" Alfred straightened his shoulders before he looked to the curtains that separated the Kings from the rest of the ball. "Matthew!"  
A figure stepped out from behind the curtain, and Francis immediately recognised him as the Ace of Spades. The young man wore plates of armour on his chest and arms and legs, accompanied by a royal blue cloak.  
"Guard the doors, let no one interrupt us." Alfred ordered in a stern voice.

The Ace nodded and bowed, before silently retreating back into the curtains.

Francis struggled to find the words to say, he stood defenceless as Alfred's eyes focussed back on him, darkened with anger. "Alfred…"

"Don't." Alfred hissed, "Arthur told me I was being paranoid and childish, just because he hadn't caught you! But that dance only proved me right!"

"Where is he now?" Francis asked, peering back to the curtains, terrified of what stood behind them. "He was looking for you. He said that he wanted to—"

"Don't try to play innocent!" Alfred spat, cutting Francis off, "If you must know, he is talking with the Hearts. It's amazing what a King with gratitude is willing to do. I want to act alone, for now."

"I'm sorry—"

"Would have you been sorry if you kissed him?! If you took him like you imagined?!" Alfred asked, "I can see it in your eyes! You disgust me! Arthur is not the kind of man to throw away his values like that!"

 _"OH MYYYYY!"_ A voice cackled from behind the Diamond King, Francis tensed with surprise, however, Alfred didn't react to the noise, as though he couldn't hear it. The Joker continued to laugh hoarsely whilst Francis fought the urge to turn around and smack him. _"He thinks you just want to SLEEP with Arthur! He hasn't even CONSDIERED the idea of you being in LOVE! THIS IS AMAZING!"_  
Francis glanced back at Alfred, realising from the anger in Alfred's eyes that this was true. However, Francis couldn't tell whether that fact would make the situation better or worse.

Alfred became agitated by the Diamond King's silence, "Well?! What do you have to say for yourself?! Was it lust that drew you to him?!"

"I…" Francis sighed, until his head fell into his hands. "It wasn't lust…"

"Please…" Alfred sighed, "You stared at him like I did… You… Hang on…"

"I do not mean to intrude on your marriage; I do not want to put the relationship between our kingdoms at risk!" Francis pled.

To Francis' surprise; Alfred chuckled, "you should be glad that I figured you out first… If Arthur had believed me… He wouldn't have seen your advances as kind gestures; he would have seen you for what you really were. A hungry wolf whose eyes followed him wherever he went, lustful thoughts plaguing his mind…. If it was my choice: there would be no relationship between our Kingdoms, I'm sure that Arthur would agree with me. However, I'm not that selfish; ironically we need your Kingdom as much as you need ours."

"I see..." Francis sighed, "I swear, I have some curse upon me…"

"A curse?" Alfred asked, frowning, "There is no such thing as curses, there is only our own desires. A curse is a desire that doesn't want to be acknowledged. Admit it, give me the satisfaction of knowing that I was right."

Francis frowned as he felt the cold breath of the Joker waft around him, as though the invisible man was waltzing around him, _"I told you that it is not a curse. You're in love, you're in love, you're in love."_

 _"I'm in love…"_ Francis whispered, before suddenly realising that he had said it out loud. Francis glanced upwards to see Alfred stare at him in a shocked silence, staring at the Diamond king as though he couldn't believe what he just heard.

"I said nothing about _love!"_ Alfred gasped, recoiling in shock. "What the hell are you talking about love for!?"

"I—"

"Oh god…" Alfred gasped as he ran his hands through his caramel hair, "and I was thinking that this couldn't get worse…"

"Although… I know that Arthur could never feel the same about me. And it has caused me hell ever since he stepped out of that carriage…"  
Francis couldn't think about what else he could say… the Diamond king stood before the King of spades, with his heart sitting defenceless before an enraged husband… What frightened Francis the most was Alfred's silence, it was haunting and heavy, a sign that Francis was not going to be easily forgiven.  
"My heart cried every time I saw him, it was crying for something that it could not have. I hate this… Too much is at risk for my Kingdom, and I cannot be selfish. But… I don't know if it will ever end…"

 _"I will make it."_ Alfred hissed as his once calm demeanour crumbled into shaky and angry Alfred broadened his shoulders and clenched his fists.

Francis was about to either ask how the King planned to do that, or beg him for forgiveness, but he was interrupted by the noise of a commotion coming from the curtains.

"Move it, Matthew!" A familiar voice hissed, "Let me through!"

"Oh no…" Francis sighed, dreading the sight of Arthur emerging from the curtains, his bold brows knotted into a frown.

"Alfred!" Arthur exclaimed as he marched towards his husband. Arthur looked at Francis and smiled as he stood by Alfred, "I apologise for that. However, Alfred, you just disappeared on me and left me with the Hearts!"

"Sorry, darling…" Alfred whispered, quickly hooking his arm around Arthur, pulling him into him tightly, much to Arthur's confusion.  
Francis' heart ached… knowing just what Alfred was doing.

"Darling… that's new…" Arthur murmured as Alfred grasped onto his shoulder. Arthur composed himself, with Alfred's arm still hooked around his shoulders. "What is going on here?"

"Francis and I were just talking," Alfred announced, smiling at Arthur as though nothing was wrong. "We made a deal."

"We did?" Francis asked, somewhat terrified by the flawless act behind Alfred's wide smile, but yet… there was still an underlying anger behind his deep oceanic eyes.

"Mm~" Alfred chuckled as he looked at Arthur, before taking his husbands hand and holding it in clear view, "remember when Francis agreed to assist us with gran and trade in order to help us."

"Yes," Arthur agreed, before glancing at the Diamond King, who was consumed with trying to not look as terrified as he felt.  
Alfred was kicking Francis down while he was weak… and he was doing an amazing job, Francis could feel gravity tighten its grip on him, as though everything wanted the King of Diamonds to fall to his knees…

Alfred did not stop, "He is going to help us as much as he can…" Alfred glanced at Alfred, and despite his wide smile, his eyes remained narrow and cold. "He's going to give us our imports from the diamond kingdom at half the price."

 _"WHAT!?"_ Francis and Arthur gasped together, both staring at the young King as though he were mad. However… Arthur was smiling at the shocking announcement.

"Francis, you can't honestly being agreeing to this!" Arthur gasped as he walked towards the King of Diamonds, "Though, you have no clue about how much this will help us!"

"I… we still need to speak about this!" Francis pointed out as he stared at Arthur's smile, desperately trying to block out the glare of his husband.

"Oh, Francis…" Arthur sighed, smiling, "Though, please think this agreement through… It's a large ask, but it would really help our Kingdom."

Francis felt his heart ache as he stared down at Arthur, unable to control the writhing beating of his heart, and he wasn't sure whether it was from the fear of Alfred, or his newly accepted love of Arthur. "I… I'll see what I can do. I may have said that in the heat of the moment."

Arthur smiled as he extended his hand towards Arthur, feeling his pulse rage out of control. Arthur shook his hand proudly, unable to contain his smile.

"Well, we shall discuss it more tomorrow then," Alfred announced, coaxing Arthur back into his arms, "now, where is that dance you promised me?"

Arthur smiled at Alfred, taking his hand. Arthur glanced at Francis, "Do you mind?"

"No… No, not at all…" Francis replied as he stepped away from the married couple, letting them walk back towards the ballroom. Alfred let Arthur step in front of him, only for Alfred to run his hand down his queens back; well aware that Francis was watching.

Francis heard Arthur laugh at the Kings advancement, "why are you so grabby all of a sudden?!"

When they disappeared, Francis released a deep breath, feeling his aching heart spread throughout his body like a plague, breaking him down like a crumbling wall… His worst nightmare had blossomed before his eyes and he was powerless to stop it.  
And he knew, that it was only going to get worse… Alfred had become vengeful and angry, the ambitious King wasn't going to forgive Francis for his wandering heart… He could hardly blame the young King...

He breathed heavily as he dug his nails into the marble, hurting his fingers.  
"You are a King for heaven's sake…" Francis hissed to himself, "An ancient Kingdom is at your fingertips. You cannot let your own heart ruin that."

He stood up straight, taking in a deep breath of fresh spring air, telling himself that he was going to face whatever pain the Spade was going to throw at him as a man, as a _King._

Francis marched towards the ballroom, and made his way back through the crowd, determined to be a host to his ball and engage with the other monarchs. He aggressively ignored the sight of two figures in blue coats dancing closely on the dancefloor.

He spent the rest of the evening socialising with the other monarchs, as though nothing was plaguing the Kings heart. However, he couldn't escape the sight of those blue coats… engaged in a close dance and even a few passionate kisses….

Francis reminded himself that his heart does not dictate his future; he is a King in his own right and was determined to hold the wellbeing of his Kingdom above anything else, no matter how painful that may be.

 **I realised that i forgot to add a source for the song that Francis and Arthur danced to in the last chapter.  
It is 'Nearly Witches' by Panic! at the Disco  
Honestly, this song is what inspired me to write this story, so do yourselves a favour: look up that song and imagine Arthur and Francis dancing to it as the Queen of Spades and King of Diamonds. **

**Thank you for reading this story!**


	7. Chapter 7

Francis woke the next morning, praying that the night before was just a bad dream, however, the bounding headache induced by the alcohol crushed that hope.  
He got ready extremely slowly, taking more time than it normally would for him to be ready. Because he was willing to do anything to delay facing the other Monarchs, especially the King and Queen of Spades.

Francis was attacked last night, not physically, but internally… Francis was verbally pushed into a corner, forced to either accept his shame and come clean about his feelings, or face a terrible agreement that would ruin his Kingdoms economy. He couldn't decide which was worse: shaming his kingdom, or ruining it.

Francis could not forget the look in Alfred's eyes, the anger and shock they expressed as soon as Francis muttered that dangerous word that began with 'L'. Francis regretted not taking Alfred's anger more seriously, he should have promised that he was not a threat: he was harmless to Alfred's marriage as well as his honour, and that Francis had chosen his kingdom over his feelings, and he knew that Arthur was not worth perusing. But then again… he would be lying if he said that he did not _want_ to be.

Francis opened the doors to the grand dining room, expecting to be overwhelmed by stares of disgust and judgment, however, he was met with very few stares in general. Nor did he expect the Queen of Hearts to be sitting next to the Queen of Clubs, both looking relatively peaceful, like the tension caused by Alfred's vote yesterday meant nothing. Francis saw the same sight from their Kings, who didn't sit far away, and also were talking over breakfast. The Jacks also all sat together, chatting over breakfast, Francis gasped when he saw the Jack of Clubs smile, and the Heart laugh as Vash was talking as the Jack of Spades sipped his tea, enjoying himself. Of course, the Aces of the present Kings stood by on their watchful guard, Francis smiled at Antonio, whom followed him into the dining area.

"Did you sleep well?" Antonio asked as he turned to face Francis, as he continued to step backwards, heading towards his guarding position with the other two spades.

"I slept fine, thank you," Francis thanked, prompting Antonio to turn around and reach his position, standing by the Ace of Hearts and the Ace of Clubs.

The Queen of Diamonds ran to Francis with a joyful look on her face, "the Hearts and Clubs are talking again!"

"How nice," Francis admitted, however, he couldn't help but throne, "they avoided each other last night, why are they talking now?"

"Last night Arthur convinced them to give the discussions a chance! And proposed that the land be given back overtime! Eliminating a need for battle over it!" Lili explained.

"How diplomatic of him…" Francis shuddered, regretting the image of Arthur in his mind, he felt guilty even listening to a conversation about the Queen of Spades, as he dreaded the idea of the King getting any more ideas…

"It was a miracle!" Lili exclaimed as she clapped her hands together, "I hate the idea of anyone leaving our kingdom feeling sour. The day hasn't properly started and negotiations are already beginning."  
Historically, the last day of the conference is spent finalising any decisions made during the meeting the day beforehand, it gives Kingdoms a final chance to settle any decisions and make alliances, only for the Monarchs to leave after a parade and display by the Ace's, as a means to display the Kingdom's loyalty to their King. Traditionally the day is quiet and peaceful, however, with his situation; Francis felt as though his day was going to be anything but.

"Have you seen either of the Spades?" Francis asked, glancing over his shoulder, as though expecting Alfred to dash through the door and smack the Diamond king for even thinking about his queen, even in general terms.

"No, they're not out of their chambers yet," Lili explained, "they should hurry, breakfast is getting cold."

"Right, thank you," Francis muttered as he walked past the young girl in the orange gown, determined to have his breakfast before facing his day.

"Francis!" Lili cried as she walked towards him, grabbing at his sleeve for his attention, "We will have to discuss with them what we're going to contribute to them, following what was talked about yesterday. Everyone will want a piece of them today."

"Hmm, I do hope I can have some time with Arthur, he promised that he'd have tea with me," Lili sighed.  
Francis grimaced, predicting that Alfred would love to have both of their queens distracted...

"I trust that he will," Francis agreed, before he looked to the Queens who were talking over their breakfast. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Kiku greeted, bowing his head respectfully.

"Last night was magnificent," Elizabeta gasped as she perched her head on her hand, "that ballroom manages to shock me every year."

"That's the idea, my dear," Francis chuckled.

Finally, the door to the dining area opened again, and two figures in blue walked in. Francis found himself unable to look away, despite the presence of Alfred. Arthur looked fresh and proper, wearing a small violet top hat, with the fabric matching that of his coat. Francis couldn't help but notice a small collection of badges and medals on his chest, as well as that, Arthur wore another odd feature: his neck was partially covered by the bow that he would usually have on his collar.  
When the Spades were near the table, Lili took her chance to speak to Arthur, and propose her idea about the two of them having tea together. Francis watched his young queen speak to Arthur, as though she were an excited child speaking to mentor, the sight warmed Francis' heart. However, it was burned to a crisp by the look in Alfred's eyes.  
Francis sighed as he looked back down at his plate of bread and jam, having suddenly lost his appetite.

"Good morning," Alfred greeted as he took a seat next to Francis, comfortably resting his elbows on the table, "have you begun discussions already?" he asked the two queens whom sat across from them.

Despite Francis' overwhelming anxiety, the queens smiled at the young King, "perhaps, Arthur's suggestions have widened our options. The four of us are going to meet at noon to properly discuss it," Kiku explained.

"Even Ivan is warming up to the idea," Elizabeta pointed out before she narrowed her eyes at Alfred, "I suppose that your rude intervention wasn't as bad."

"Heh, I know, that was the idea: we can't have kingdoms fighting." Alfred chuckled, absolutely flaunting his pride. Alfred knew that his intervention was the cause of these discussions, he may as well be saying 'you're welcome' to the two kingdoms. Francis tensed when Alfred focussed on him, "Arthur and Lili are going to meet at noon and talk over tea. It's so sweet, Arthur is smitten with that little girl. That'll leave us some time to discuss our terms before the four of us meet at noon."

"Right…" Francis mumbled before taking a sip of his tea, keeping his eyes heavily focussed on the diamond embroidery that was stitched into the white tablecloth. Absolutely dreading his situation; he loathed the idea of Alfred having the power to abuse his sovereignty.  
Alfred could barely contain his excitement, which worried Francis immensely. Francis ignored Alfred as he continued to talk with the other queens, determined to not expose his anxiety any further.

Eventually, the Clubs and the Hearts left the dining area together, intending to finish their organisation of the returning of the Northern Heartlands to the Heart Kingdom. Soon afterwards, Arthur and Lili walked towards the two Kings.

"Lili is going to show me the palace gardens, would you wish to join us?" Arthur asked, kneeling into Alfred.

"We're fine, Francis and I are just going to talk, we'll meet you two later," Alfred replied.

Arthur frowned, "I thought that you said you wanted to see the gardens."

"I know, I'll see it later, I have something to take care of..." Alfred replied, before tugging on the arm of Arthur's bow, releasing the fabric.

"HEY!" Arthur hissed as he snatched back the ribbon.  
Francis couldn't help but notice the prominent reddened patches of skin on Arthur's pale neck, immediately he knew what those were … and why Alfred made sure to reveal them.  
"You bastard! I ought to slap you!"

"I'm sorry, I thought it was secured!" Alfred pointed out as he stood up to tie the ribbon back around Arthur's neck, positioning it over the collection of love bites that littered the queen's neck. "Don't worry, mine are well covered."

"Don't talk about it…" Arthur groaned with irritation. "Why did you have to say that?!"

"Sorry," Alfred chuckled as he straightened the arms of the thick ribbon, "there! This was what I was meant to do…" Before Arthur could point out anything else, Alfred delivered a small peck on his lips, Arthurs eyes widened with surprise at Alfred's quick display of affection.

"What is with you lately? You're acting strange…" Arthur pointed out quietly, however, not quite enough for Francis to not hear.

"It's ok. Go and have a good time," Alfred chuckled before he sat down next to Francis and waited before their queens were out of sight before turning to face Francis. "Are you paying attention now?"

"What do you want?" Francis grumbled, glancing over at the two remaining Aces, and the two remaining Jacks.

"I'm going to make you regret laying your eyes on Arthur," Alfred admitted, "and also, I'm looking for a good deal for my Kingdom. Heh… It seems that I can get both. Now please keep in mind, I'm not usually like this."

"Really?" Francis asked, chuckling at the young king's statement. "I feel like you're threatening me!"

"I see why you see it like that. However, I have this tool right in front of me, that's going to guarantee prosperity for my kingdom. Why would I not use it? You know what would happen if people were to find out about your feelings for my queen."

"I would be shamed, our alliance would be dissolved, other Kingdoms won't trust me," Francis listed, "I know."

"Right…" Alfred murmured.  
Francis knew that Alfred had no idea what he wanted to do with this power that he held over him; despite how hard the young King tried to appear as confident and cunning. The young man's words were inconsistent, and had no clear pattern, there was no set demand or end goal, and this only made Francis feel worse.  
Alfred had the power to do whatever he wanted.

"Just tell me what you want for your silence," Francis muttered.

"An advantage. I like the idea I proposed last night. I will admit, it was rather ambitious, but I like it." Alfred pointed out, "grain at half the price, I believe it was."

"That's impossible, you'd run my kingdom to the ground," Francis pointed out, "your ambition will be your undoing—"

"So will your heart," Alfred interrupted.

"My Jack and Queen would never allow it. I don't think yours will either."

"No… Arthur was overjoyed when I said it last night, perhaps you imagining his face again will make it easier, and Yao knows a good deal when he sees one." Alfred hissed, gritting his teeth at the King. "Besides, I'm sure your queen and jack would agree if they were to find out…"

"You wouldn't _dare,_ I'm not a threat to your marriage: you don't need to do this!" Francis hissed back, finally unafraid to stare at the King of Spades in the eyes.

"This isn't just about my marriage. As I said, I have a power before me that no other King has had before, of course I'm going to use it," Alfred pointed out.

"But at the expense of innocent people. What I feel for Arthur is my sin, my Kingdom shouldn't be dragged down for it," Francis explained.

"But how else am I going to use it? A deal has to be made between the Spades and the Diamonds, you did that by pledging a contribution to us, and I have to get the best deal that I can." Alfred pointed out as he leant back in his chair, "I suppose that asking for half is a bit too much…"

"Yes, yes it is," Francis pointed out.

"But I want something close…" Alfred pointed out, holding out his finger, as though to silence the Diamond King.

"You are so childish!" Francis hissed as he pushed down Alfred's finger.

"I know, but it works," Alfred pointed out.

"Is everything ok over here?" Yao asked, interrupting the two Kings, Vash stood beside the Jack of Spades, looking equally confused.

"Everything's fine, we're actually discussing the Diamond contribution right now," Alfred pointed out.  
Francis panicked as Yao and Vash took the seats across from the King, this couldn't be happening now, Francis needed more time to think it over, he needed to speak to Yao privately and confess what was going on: maybe he could help him.  
"Oh my, what perfect timing," Alfred chuckled as the doors to the dining hall opened, and Arthur and Lili returned, extremely early.

"We thought we'd return and relax later. We have business to attend to," Arthur pointed out with a smile that struck the Diamond King in the heart, and slammed the final nail into his coffin.

The group retired into a smaller meeting room, which was lit by a heavily decorated chandelier that hovered over a wooden desk, that was large enough to sit the six members and allowed them the face each other. The Aces of the two kingdoms stood behind their Kings and kept their hands to the handles of their seethed swords; signifying their allegiance.

"Now, we are detailing an agreement between the Kingdom of Diamonds and the Kingdom of Spades, addressing the contribution that the Diamonds will make towards the industrial advancement of the Spades, and what they shall get in return for their cooperation." Yao explained as he wrote on a blank piece of paper: beginning their contract. "In accordance to tradition, I must read out the rules as follows: only the King and Queen of each respected Kingdom can sign or annul an agreement, with the support of at least one member of the opposite monarchy, of which cannot be a Jack. A Jack is only allowed to suggest and advise the steps a King and Queen can take: but cannot influence or finalise the agreement.  
Francis knew that now he had to put on a brave face, he had to fight to keep his kingdoms honour. He felt the eyes of the King of spades mentally push him back into a corner, well aware that he only has to point out Francis' feelings for Arthur in order to ruin him.  
As soon as the door to the meeting room were shut, Francis knew: he was trapped.


	8. Chapter 8

Francis felt as though his heart was about to protrude out of his chest as he tightened his hands into fists, voices around him becoming nothing but unintelligible mumbles and grumbles. He was either going to be shamed or economically ruined: and he couldn't decide which would be worse.

The poisonous glare he received from Alfred did not help his state at all, he was kicking the King while he was down … Francis couldn't blame him; he was only trying to protect his queen and do the best for his Kingdom.

With the rules of agreement read, and the status' of each Kingdom disclosed, the discussions between the Kings and Queens of Spades and Diamonds could commence.

Alfred wasted no time, "following what we discussed on the balcony last night, I think we should start at that figure…"

"What did you talk about last night?" Vash whispered to Francis.

"What we discussed last night was on personal terms, not diplomatic. So that should hold no power here." Francis explained, swallowing his anxiety and staring into the young King's eyes. "Besides, I'm sure that was just your excitement talking: because I never agreed to such a figure."

"Fair enough," Alfred shrugged, "I understand that."

"Then I propose that we look at our current standing," Arthur proposed, "Currently, the Spades are one of the largest importers of Diamond material. And we can see the prominent use of Spade materials in use in this very castle."

"All we ask is that you offer us a little help, and in return we will offer you advancement, as we said: only a fool would want to be left behind," Alfred added.

"We do want to help," Lili pointed out with a sweet smile on her face. "We are happy to offer you some advantages when it comes to our trade agreements. We could lower the percentage of the exports you want."

"We primarily want to focus on agriculture. Our agriculture has suffered because of our industrialisation, rather soon we will be at risk of famine: and we can't risk that at a time like this," Alfred explained.

"What do you propose?" Lili asked.

"First we should start at grain purchases at fifty percent of the price," Alfred exclaimed, making everyone in the room, including his fellow Spade monarchs- _even the Ace's,_ gasp in response.

"Are you mad?" Francis asked.

"Perhaps." Alfred replied, "there are certain things that will drive men mad, you'd know that: wouldn't you, Francis?"

Francis sucked in a sharp breath, recoiling from the shock of Alfred's statement. Even Arthur glared at his husband, attempting to understand why Alfred would say such a thing.

"We cannot accept that! We're struggling ourselves!" Lili exclaimed.

"Perhaps then sixty…" Alfred proposed. Francis noticed Arthur become concerned by how bold Alfred was acting he stared at Alfred with a heavy frown.

"We cannot do that either!" Lili pointed out.

It was then that Francis remembered something… the familiar voice of the joker rang through his mind like church bells as he heard the words.  
 _You can act on the cries of your heart; however, the price that will come with it will be catastrophic…_  
This was his curse… Francis had acted on his feelings… he danced with Arthur and said 'J'taime'. He had set himself up for failure! And now he knew that his kingdom was going to suffer because of his selfishness!  
Francis felt as though he was going to be physically sick, and now he was too anxious to protect Lili… She was doing all of the talking, he should be the one defending his kingdom from the onslaught of requests and bargaining that is coming from the Spades.

"Francis…" Alfred muttered, smiling at the diamond king from across the table, "do you have anything to say, or is Lili going to speak for you?"

"Alfred!" Arthur hissed, lightly smacking Alfred on the shoulder, recoiling at his bold and rude behaviour.

"We can't do anything extreme; we still don't know what you're going to give us in return for helping you," Francis pointed out.

"Well, sometimes risks pay off," Alfred chuckled, "you need to decide which is worse: deficit or shame." Once again, everyone present recoiled in shock, Francis felt Vash grab at his shoulder.

 _"What did you do!?"_ Vash hissed.

Francis huffed, feeling the weight of all eyes on him, he felt as though he was drowning in judgment and shame already… He had to act, now…  
If he was to accept a terrible deal with the Spades, he could make back the difference with the Clubs or the Hearts, whichever is compassionate enough to make a deal… He could come back from this…  
Whereas, if Alfred were to reveal his secret, that shame would stick around Francis and his kingdom like a bad smell… His kingdom would be considered dishonest, other monarchs would be wary around him and surely his relationship with the Spades would be severed: something that he cannot risk happening.

"Sixty-five percent is the lowest we will go," Francis admitted. Once again, everyone present acted as though they couldn't believe what they were hearing: what kind of King would put their kingdom at such an economic disadvantage?! Francis could feel this judgment; however, he knew that he was doing what was best to protect his Kingdom… He had chosen the lesser of two evils…

"Are you mad?!" Vash hissed, "why are you doing this?! Do you know what you're doing?!"

"Francis, what's going on?" Lili asked, becoming increasingly anxious, "is something wrong?"

"Francis, that is practically robbery," Arthur pointed out, himself becoming concerned by the Kings decision, "are you sure you can accept this?"  
Francis could only look at Arthur, feeling as though his heart was sinking under the weight of Arthur's stare. He stared at Arthur as he mentally begged for help, he was internally screaming at Arthur to help him and to sense that something is wrong… however; Alfred's power over the Diamond King was far too strong.

As Francis signed the contract agreement, he felt as though he was signing away his dignity over to the Spades, particularly Alfred. The young king had won, he had gotten what he wanted from the Diamonds, and he still kept the King's secret as a secret weapon… Francis knew that this issue was not going to go away… not while Alfred was still youthful, naïve, and vengeful.

As soon as the Spades left the room, Antonio closed the door behind them and Vash stood up to stand before his king.  
"Are you a madman?!" Vash hissed grabbing at Francis' shoulders, obviously fighting the urge to strangle the Diamond King.

Lili grabbed her brother's arm, in an attempt to calm him down, "Vash—"

"Lili, it's ok… I should have told you all what was going on as soon as it began…" Francis sighed.

"What was King Alfred talking about? Shame? Madness?" Antonio asked, "you're really worrying us."

"Well…" Francis muttered, "What I did was the lesser of two options…"

"How is this lesser?!" Vash asked, his cheeks flushing red.

Francis looked up at Lili and assessed whether her knowing this information would impact her friendship with Arthur, he knew that she and Arthur had been getting along well, and she was so excited to be friends with him…  
Francis couldn't ruin this for her as well…

"Lili, go and find Arthur…" Francis explained, "have your tea and show him around the garden, show him a nice time… and if Alfred want's let him come too, disperse this situation."

Lili bowed, not wanting to question Francis' decision, "yes…"  
Francis made sure that the door was properly shut behind his young queen, before he looked back to Antonio and Francis.

"Alfred found out that I had fallen in love with Arthur…" Francis sighed. The Queen, Jack and Ace all gasped in unison, equally recoiling in shock.

"What do you mean?" Vash asked.

"I feel in love with the Queen of Spades… Arthur doesn't know about it, so this isn't an inter-kingdom affair… Alfred figured me out, and threatened to expose me if I didn't take this deal…" Francis explained.

"You were blackmailed…" Antonio gasped, "If anything; they're being dishonourable!"

"No…" Francis sighed, "Arthur doesn't know anything about it, and Alfred is only trying to protect his queen and do what is best for his kingdom. I don't blame him for being a King…"

"So… what are we going to do now…?" Vash asked.

"Try to talk to the Hearts and Clubs: see if we can get their help us, we can try to repair this Spade-shaped hole…" Francis hissed as he rose from his seat and marched out of the office, desperate to escape the intensity of the situation.  
The sickness that boiled within Francis' stomach only grew worse with every step, he dreaded every moment from now… However, he could only pray that Alfred had been satisfied enough to remain silent.

Francis retired into his private office, determined to spend some time alone…  
However, his peace barely lasted for an hour, as the door to his office opened and Lili peeked through the gap.

"Francis…" Lili murmured, "Are you ok?"

"Yes. I am fine," Francis lied, masking his feelings with a smile, "how can I help you?"

"It's Arthur, he wants to speak to you in the tea-room," Lili explained.

"W-what?" Francis stuttered.

"I need to go and have my bath, and he's waiting for you in the private tea room in the east-wing," Lili explained, "He said that he wanted to speak to you."

Francis spent the journey to the tea room internally cursing at himself, he wanted to scream out loud, he wished he had the courage to grab a guards weapon and end himself then and there… surely anyone else would be a better King than him right now…

He reached the tea room with an aching anxiety, making him want to be physically sick…  
Francis opened the door and stepped in, he looked at the small table that sat in the centre of the room, the table was decorated with delicate sweets as well as an expensive tea set. However, both of the chairs were empty…

"Ar-"  
Francis was interrupted when he was grabbed from behind and forced against the wall, with a warm hand gripping around his throat. Francis found himself staring into a pair of vibrant green eyes, which were narrowed with anger.  
"A-Arthur! What are you doing?"

"Do you speak the same language as your servants…?" Arthur asked.

"Y-yes…" Francis shuddered as he attempted to pull himself off of the wall, only for Arthur to force him back.  
Despite the situation, the intimacy was driving Francis crazy… even his illusions could not create such a scenario… Francis breathed heavily, unsure of how he should feel about the stare of seething anger he could see in Arthur's eyes.

"Then you should tell me the same thing as they did…" Arthur whispered as he leant into Francis, "tell me what J'taime means…"

Francis stuttered, unable to think clearly, as his anxiety and adrenaline created a heavy fog in his mind… Arthurs touch fuelled the craving for intimacy that had been cooking deep within the King's heart, despite the anxiety and fear he was feeling, he still couldn't tear his eyes away from Arthur's.

He was cornered; he was finally trapped and saw no way of escaping the confrontation and Francis was terrified by what was going to come.

"It means…" Francis murmured, his heart sinking with pain… "It means…"  
Francis went silent as he watched Arthur take a deep breath, feeling the queens hand tremble around his throat, confirming Francis' worst fears… _He knows._  
" _It means: I love you."_


	9. Chapter 9

Francis and Arthur could only stare at each other in a mutual silence, both unable to comprehend what the King had just admitted. Despite the excruciating awkwardness, a wave of relief embraced Francis, the words rolled off of his tongue despite the pain they caused him,  
"I love you."

"Y-you can't…" Arthur gasped as he released his grip on Francis' throat, and began to step back, his green eyes widening and his lip trembling.  
Francis hated the sight of Arthur in such a state, of course he knew that his confession was going to be a bad one, however, he didn't expect silence to be so harrowing.

"I know… But, I can't hide it anymore; it's eating at me, like a wolf at a carcass…" Francis muttered as he stepped off of the wall, walking towards the queen. "I don't expect anything from you-"

"Good, because you won't get anything," Arthur spat, defensively crossing his arms over his chest, desperately avoiding eye contact with Francis. "I… I can't believe this…"

"I have been struggling to hide it for the past couple of days… it's been destroying me… I'm sorry. I don't want you to see me as a threat or anything!" Francis explained as he placed his hands on Arthur shoulders, before lifting them because of the fear of appearing too interested…  
"I didn't know how to contain it, and it's spiraling out of my control… You're just…"

"What?" Arthur asked, finally looking up at the King his eyes narrow with a mixture of anger and shock; as though the queen himself was unsure of how to handle this confession, "what did I do?"

"Nothing, actually…" Francis murmured, scratching at his neck, "You were just… you, I suppose… you're beautiful, your eyes are as green as a forest in spring, your skin is soft and you step with elegance and grace." Francis began to ramble and as he continued he watched Arthur's expression slowly begin to change… "Your voice is soothing and refined, you care so much about your kingdom and everyone around you and it is just so beautiful how you—"

 _"Stop it…."_ Arthur hissed, tightening his hands into fists, "Just… stop…"

"As soon as you stepped out of the carriage…" Francis murmured.

 _"STOP!"_ Arthur snapped before he bit his lip, "I am possibly _the worst_ person for you to _claim_ to be _in love with!"_

"I'm not claiming! I've been trying to push it away, but it is haunting me!" Francis replied, Arthur groaned in response, the sensation felt as though the Queen may as well slam his boot into the King's ribcage.

"I'm the queen of another Kingdom, and on top of that: _I am married,"_ Arthur hissed, flashing his hand to Francis, bringing to attention his golden ring.

"I know; that's why I chose not to act on it!" Francis pointed out.

"Not to act!? You said you loved me without thinking that I'd figure it out!" Arthur exclaimed, "And Alfred… _Alfred…"_ Arthur frowned as his eyes widened at the realisation, "he already knows… Doesn't he?"

"Yes…" Francis admitted.

"Oh no…" Arthur moaned as he rubbed his forehead with his fingers, "and I yelled at him for being rude to you, but he was right all along…"

"I'm sorry…"

"You have no idea what you're doing! This is an absolute taboo, you cannot be in love with me, or feel anything _for_ me! This is… This is… Unthought-of! Scandalous! This could destroy us, as well as you!" Arthur snapped as he struggled to find the right words to describe his outrage, "You're putting your entire kingdom at risk with in relation to the spades!"

"I know!" Francis replied, "That's why I accepted the deal!"

"The deal?" Arthur asked, "Did Alfred blackmail you…? Is that why you accepted that terrible agreement?"

"He was being a King, and I don't blame him…" Francis replied. "My kingdom means everything to me, and if it means staying silent about my feelings for you, then it's a fate that I alone will suffer…"

"You haven't done a very good job," Arthur spat.

"I let my selfish desire overcome me for a moment, and it exposed me and my desires… worse than that dream did…"

"What _dream_?" Arthur growled, "in fact, I don't think I want to know what you've been dreaming about!"  
Arthur took in a deep breath as he straightened his back, his eyes narrowed towards the King, sending a shiver down his spine.  
"We can't risk losing you as an ally… so I'm afraid that you will come to see us a lot more rather soon… I'm not sure how I feel about that..."

"Do you honestly think I can't control myself?" Francis asked, feeling insulted by Queens remark.

"Excuse me for feeling uncomfortable if a man who claims to be in love with me is going to be my Kingdom's closest ally! I don't understand why Alfred loves me, let alone you as well… this is going to drive Alfred insane as well; this has already hurt him we have argued because he thought that something was wrong! My marriage means everything to me!"  
Francis was unsure about what to do; his heart was aching in pain as he watched Arthur whimper. "I don't want this... I can't… There is too much dishonesty and shame… _I'm annulling the deal!"_

"Arthur!" Francis cried as Arthur marched past the King, in shock, Francis reached to touch Arthur's arm, however, before he could tighten his grip, a firm hand struck the Diamond King across the cheek.  
Francis hissed in pain as he pressed his hands against his reddened cheek, staring at the hand that struck him and the shocked look on the Queens face…  
"Arthur…"

Arthur tightened his face and took in a deep breath, as though he was composing himself internally, "I'm sorry."

Without another word Arthur turned his back to Francis and ran out of the tea room, leaving the King alone in shock, his beating heart raging beyond his control: to the point of pain. Francis felt as though he was about to fall to his knees and scream… He knew better, but yet… He still did… He still thought of Arthur, his heart still ached for him. But because of this: he has put his kingdom at risk, the one thing he was born to serve and protect…

The noise of slow clapping echoed through the tearoom, sending a shiver down Francis' spine… because he knew exactly who it belonged to.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Francis moaned as his head fell into his hands, "can't you see that I am in pain? Are you here to mock me? Here to haunt me?"

"No, to warn you," The Joker admitted, "Heh, you've done an amazing job."

 _"Go away…"_ Francis grumbled.

"No, no, let me finish…" The joker exclaimed, "You've done a good job at heading down the path to a 'Bad Ending'."

"I can see why…" Francis sighed as he finally looked up, his eyes reddened from fighting the presence of forming tears, to see the Joker sitting comfortably at the table, holding a teacup. "I'm heartbroken, and any hope of the Spades forgiving my Kingdom is severed."

"Not only that…" The Joker chuckled, "you have single handily managed to destroy the Kingdom of Spades…"

"What?!" Francis snapped.

"You have no idea how crucial this deal was to the Spades… You were going to guarantee food for their people…" The joker explained as he took a sip from the teacup. "You see, currently their kingdom is much closer to famine than they are willing to admit… even as we speak, anger and chaos is rising in the Kingdom of spades… Arthur, Alfred, Yao and Matthew are going to return to anarchy… and if they return without a solution, imagine what horrors await them…"

"No…" Francis gasped, seeing mental images of fire and bloodshed plaguing the beautiful palace of the Kingdom of Spades.

"There will be fire, angry people, broken promises… the last monarchs left the Kingdom in such a state is disarray; it was as though a curse had been placed on the new young monarchs… and now all of that anger that was felt towards the last King and Queen… is now aimed directly at Alfred and Arthur…"

"What…?" Francis gasped in disbelief.

"They are trying their hardest to bring back hope to their Kingdom, so imagine what will happen to them when they bring back nothing to a pack of starving wolves…" The Joker continued, "Congratulations, you have turned the Spades industrial revolution, into a political one… Arthur will spend his two year anniversary as the Queen hanging from a rope, right next to his husband before screaming crowds and fire, only for the Kingdom to fall into chaos and political terror…"

"No…" Francis gasped, overwhelmed by the shock of his mental image.

"They think that the deals that they've made with the Hearts and Clubs will be enough to buy them more time to sort out what else they can do, but it won't be enough…" The Joker continued, "What are you going to do about it?"

"I've got to stop them…" Francis gasped as he began to step back towards the door, "I can't let that happen to them! I need to warn them!"

The King quickly ran out of the tea room and down the hallway, desperate to find someone to help, he yelled at servants to find the Spade monarchs as well as ordered guards to remain vigilant for them.

Francis no longer cared about his selfish feelings; his mind had become preoccupied with the mission to save the Spades, as his feelings for Arthur had turned into a jolt of bravery. He knew that he had to save him, despite the fact that Arthur would never have any feelings for him in return…

Eventually Francis made it to the hall where all of the monarchs had met, following their private meetings, Francis immediately noticed the royal blue and violet coats of Alfred and Arthur. Francis ran down the staircase, desperate to reach the Spade monarchs, not caring if he caught the attention of any other King, Queen or Jack, all he could think of was that terrible image of Arthur gasping for dear life at the end of a rope.

"Arthur, Alfred!" He called out as he made his way towards them, only to be greeted by their narrow stares.

"MATTHEW!" Arthur roared when Francis got close enough to slow down, and before he could speak; a sword came between he and the monarchs.  
People gasped with shock, as the ace of Spades drew out his sword, and placed himself between Francis and the Spades, determined to defend his monarchs. The once humble smile that Francis saw from the Ace had changed into a glare of determined protectiveness.

Francis stepped away, absolutely shocked by the Spades actions, however, he couldn't be shock for very long, as Antonio stepped between Francis and Matthew, drawing out his own sword.  
"How dare you?!" Antonio hissed as the Spades and Diamond swords crossed.

Everyone stepped back in shock as the two Aces faced each other, giving them space to square each other off… the two Aces stepped back as they began to circle each other.

"I follow the orders of my King and Queen…" Matthew explained.

"I defend my King to the death, so if you want to harm him, you will have to get through me," Antonio hissed.

"Lovino, stand by the spades!" Francis heard Ludwig order to his ace, "we can't afford to have them regret their vote!"  
Suddenly the Ace of Hearts ran to the two Aces, his sword at the ready, and before the King of Diamonds could assess the situation, the Ace of Clubs had joined, and all four Aces stood before each other with their swords at the ready, awaiting any further orders.

It was as though the situation could not get any worse, it was as though the entire system or order was crumbling before his eyes, and he was powerless to stop it.

"DON'T FIGHT!" A voice cried as a figure in yellow forced herself in the circle of aces, falling to the marble floor and her flowing dress falling around her.

"LILI!" Vash cried as he forced himself past the crowd, running to join his sister.

"EVERYONE STAND DOWN NOW!" Elizabeta ordered as the Aces seethed their swords and retreated back to their Kings, however, the tension remained potent throughout the hall.

Francis glanced over at Arthur, to see the Queen already glaring in his direction, unremorseful for calling the Ace of Spades to duty...  
Despite this hateful gesture… Francis knew that he was not going to allow Arthur to die, for despite everything that had happened: he still felt nothing but adoring love for the Queen of Spades…


	10. Chapter 10

Francis could only stand in horror and watch the aftermath of the monster he had created, the intense atmosphere hung over everyone's heads like a storm cloud, with the majority of the group not understanding why.  
The darkness shrouded over Francis' heart, destroying the King's appetite, the Jokers haunting prediction weighed heavily on his mind and his conscious. Francis knew that this nightmare wasn't going to end until he guaranteed Arthur's safety, little did the King and Queen of Spades know: their lives depended on the King of Diamonds.

They had been lying about how prosperous their kingdom was, just as a cover to encourage other kingdoms to make deals with them, so they have something to bring back to an angry crowd.  
Francis knew that a partnership with him would be the defining factor in satisfying the masses, but without it; they would be thrown to the wolves and their kingdom would crumble. Francis was the only person who knew this, and so it was his duty to do what he could, he no longer cared about Arthur's feelings towards him, his focus became saving his life.

Francis had to fight the urge to stare at the Spades as he tried to plan a way to get near them without their Ace attacking and starting another commotion. He decided that he was going to order Lili to approach Arthur tomorrow morning and propose a new deal that would give the Spades a deal that offered them grain at 75% as condolences. Francis knew that Arthur and Alfred would have a hard time calling their Ace on such a sweet young girl, and there wouldn't be a problem because Francis wouldn't be there to discuss it.

After discussing it with Vash, Vash agreed to change the deal to 75% as it was better than what Francis had originally agreed to.

Francis couldn't bear to look at Arthur as each royal took to their personalised thrones, awaiting a display from the Spades. The purpose of this event was for the Aces to display the power of the King and Queen, judging by the force of the man or the woman who was born to protect them, as well as being a tradition, it was an opportunity for Aces to fight and show off on behalf of their monarchs.

Francis smiled at Antonio who stood before he and Lili's thrones, Antonio looked back to Francis and smirked.  
"I'll get back at the Spades for that embarrassing event earlier."

"Please, go easy on him," Francis chuckled, masking his crippling insecurity with confidence.

The challenge was for Aces to battle each other, the winner continues until they have won a battle against every other Ace, Kings and Queens can even put money or deals as bets on their own Aces, however, it does not stop the game from being extremely competitive.

First it was Antonio against the Ace of Hearts; a young man named Lovino, the two Aces danced with their weapons, having fought before they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, thus the battle lasted longer than average. However, the battle ended with Lovino on his knees and Antonio completing a mock execution on the smaller man, Antonio had taken the victory for the Diamonds. As soon as their round was over, Antonio and Lovino laughed and spoke to each other as Antonio helped Lovino onto his feet.  
But by the end of the round, Antonio had lost to Natalia and Matthew. In the next round; Lovino also lost to Natalia and Matthew.

Thus, the final round was destined to be a battle of Spades and Clubs. Natalia was still standing in the arena from her battle with Antonio; she was waiting for her next opponent. The entire area had gone silent everyone awaited the emergence of the Ace of Spades from behind his King's throne. However, no one expected Natalia to draw out her bow and arrows, and shoot one in the direction of the King of Spades…

Suddenly, out from behind the throne, the Ace of Spades stepped out, snatching the arrow from its path towards the chest of his King, the entire crowd gasped with shock and delight at the display as Matthew snapped the dud-arrow.

Matthew ran towards the Ace of Clubs with his sword at the ready, quickly she drew out hers, only for the two to collide in the middle.  
Everyone was impressed by the display of skill and power shown by both Aces, they both appeared to take the battle extremely seriously, as they both took risks to establish dominance over the other, despite this, the battle raged on as the point of advantage swapped between being in favour of the Spades and Clubs.  
Matthew fought with the power and loyalty of a knight, whilst Natalia fought with the skill and grace of an assassin.

Matthew swung his sword at Natalia, only for it to collide with her own, however no one expected her to draw out a dagger from her belt, before stepping into the Ace of Spades, taking him by surprise, and pressing the blade of the dagger against his neck.  
The Aces stared into each other's eyes in silence, as Matthew began to process what had just happened.

"VICTORY TO THE CLUBS!" A voice announced as the crowd erupted into applause; however the Aces of Spades and Clubs continued to stand silently, with Natalia's blade against Matthew's neck. Despite their position, the Aces appeared to be in good spirits, talking to each other privately, before Natalia finally released Matthew, letting him return to his King as she did to hers.

The victory had gone to the clubs, and whatever bets were made that night were given to Ivan and Elizabeta, whom of course shared their joy over the banquet.  
Despite his loss, Francis could hear Alfred and Arthur showering their Ace in their pride, thanking him for doing so well, it was a sweet gesture. Francis couldn't help but worry about the Spades during the entire banquet and he could barely stomach his dinner because his anxiety was so strong. He feared for what was going to come, and he knew that he had to get Lili onto proposing the deal to Arthur, and quickly. However, before he could speak to her privately, the young queen retired to bed, leaving Francis to ponder about his plan throughout the night.

Despite his anxiety, Francis still fell asleep relatively quickly, as though something was pulling him into his deep unconsciousness.  
Francis could hear something in the distance, and as he became more and more involved in his dream, the noises became louder and as he became more aware: he realised that the noise was shouting. Suddenly he opened his eyes to see the dark amber glow of fire above him, black figures were standing around him some holding flaming torches, others with swords, and slowly the figures grew faces, and clothing and emotions. They were all scared, angry and hungry, determined to see those who wronged them suffer, and as Francis began to walk through the crowd, he noticed the symbols of Spade branded on banners that hung from the walls of the familiar Spades Palace courtyard. A large wooden stage had been set up before the grand staircase that led into the Spades Palace, what shocked Francis the most was the presence of two hanging nooses in the centre of the stage, waiting for their next victim.

"The Ace of Spades and the Jack were killed on the night of the storming of the Palace," a familiar voice said, Francis gasped when he saw the Joker standing beside him, his blood red eyes focussing intensely at the nooses. "Thus, the King and Queen were left unprotected… and left to be captured by the masses of angry citizens and bloodthirsty revolutionaries."

"That can't be…" Francis gasped.

"The former monarchs of Spade left the kingdom in such a shocking state; handing the Kingdom down to those young men was practically a death-sentence," The Joker explained, "the people are angry and hungry, and they don't care who has to suffer, even if it wasn't their fault."

"Where are the former monarchs? They should answer for their negligence!" Francis growled.

"They left in the dark of night, understanding that a storm was brewing outside the palace walls, they retreated deep into a villa in the Heartland countryside," The Joker explained, "they're untouchable now, and their problems have become King Alfred and Queen Arthur's responsibilities."

"This isn't right! This can't happen!" Francis exclaimed before the crowd suddenly became wild as the doors to the palace opened and the Joker had disappeared from Francis' side.

Francis' eyes widened as the crowd began to cheer and shout as four figures left the castle, two of which had silk pillowcases over their faces and were tied by the wrists with rope. The pair were being led up the stairs to the stage by two men in waistcoats and with large smiles on their faces.

"DOWN WITH THE TRAITORS!"

"SEND THEM TO HELL!"

"DESTROY THEM!"

"GIVE US OUR COUNTRY BACK!"

Francis was so astonished by the anger of the crowd, and angry about how all of this anger was directed to the innocence. The crowd screamed as the figures were placed under the noses, until suddenly, the pillow cases were removed from their heads, revealing their faces to the violent crowd.

The beauty and life that once filled Arthur's eyes was reduced to nothing, the lush green that they once were was dampened by tears and became deep and darker, and the skin around his eyes had been roughened and reddened. Despite this, Francis still found his heart beating longingly for him… Alfred looked no better than his queen, if anything; he had been treated worse, a bruise was forming on his cheekbones, and his eyes were narrow with pain, he was a lesser form of his charismatic self. The monarchs were in pain, and looked as though they could barely stand on their own; the vibrations from the sounds of the crowd appeared to nearly topple them over.

Alfred and Arthur looked at each other painfully as stools were placed before them, and they were pushed to step up, to be face to face with the holes of their nooses.

"NO!" Francis cried as he began to run through the crowd, pushing past every single person in the way, desperate to get to the stage, to get to Arthur. _"NO!"_ Before he could break away from the crowd and reach the stage, hands came from everywhere and held him still, grabbing at his arms, his torso, his legs and his hand, the crowd held him still before forcing him to look up.

Francis looked forward to see the Joker staring at him as he stood beside Alfred and Arthur as they stood on their stools, with their heads in their nooses, his silver hair illuminated by the firelight. "You need to stop this from happening, or the world as you know it is going to crumble and it's going to start with the one you love…"

Francis watched with terror as the Joker disappeared, immediately Francis' eyes gravitated towards Arthur, he was helpless as Arthur looked to his husband, his calm face masking the terror in his eyes.

 _"I love you…"_ He whispered to Alfred as the drums began to speed up in beat, as both of the men on the stage propped their feet onto the stools, preparing to commit the execution.  
The crowd went wild as Alfred closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip, and as Arthur began to cry, dreading the death that was awaiting them, at the hands of their own people.

Francis felt his entire body freeze when Arthur's eyes met his, Arthur's desperate and terrified eyes chilled Francis to the bone, and struck his heart. Arthur's eyes cried for mercy and help as Francis tried to fight against the crowd to get to him, but he wasn't strong enough to fight them.

Arthur's dry lips parted to speak directly to Francis, as though he was calling to him through his dream, _"Save me."_

Suddenly, the stools under Alfred and Arthur were kicked out from under their feet, causing the royals to fall and hang by their necks. The force of the fall wasn't strong enough to break their necks, so the death was slower, Francis watched in horror as the crowd roared.  
Alfred and Arthur both struggled to breathe against the weight of their own bodies, the nooses stealing their breath away.  
However after about a minute, the royals fell still, finally succumbing to unconsciousness.

Francis sat up and screamed, startling himself as he woke from his nightmare, he suddenly realised that he needed to find the Spades, and _now._  
Jumping out of bed, Francis quickly dressed into the most basic suit, completely forgetting his golden cloak; quickly Francis tied his blonde hair up with a blue ribbon, his hands shaking from the anxiety.

"Where are the King and Queen of Spades?!" Francis boomed as he marched down the hallway, startling a group of maids.

"S-sir!" The maid stuttered, "we were just ordered to clean their quarters!"

"What?" Francis asked, startled by her confession, realising that the quarters of Kings and Queens were not supposed to be cleaned until they had left the castle. He knew that he needed the find Vash and demand him to explain why the Spades quarters are being cleaned.

"They ordered to leave earlier this morning," Vash explained.

"WHAT?!" Francis gasped, once again being struck by the mental image of Arthur being hung by a rope, this was his last chance to save him, and Francis refused to accept that he had missed it. "No!"

"Francis, you're being erratic!" Vash pointed out, "this can't be because of your feelings for Arthur!"

"No, this means so much more, this is more than my feelings for him! I need to save him!" Francis explained before he ran from Vash's office, desperate to make it to the stables, grabbing his long brown cape along the way.

He could barely remember the journey from the castle to the stables, the sight of him alone shocking many of the palace staff as they went about their duties.

"Shall I prepare a carriage?" they young stable boy asked.

"There's no time, just prepare the fastest horse we have!" Francis ordered.  
As he waited for the stable boy to collect the horse and prepare the saddle, Francis paced around the entrance to the stable, overwhelmed by his anxiety as his heart screamed in pain. He knew that Alfred and Arthur's ship was at the dock, they would have been preparing to leave right now, and perhaps they were already aboard the ship! Francis knew that if he missed this he wasn't going to have another chance; Arthur and Alfred were going to hang by a rope because he missed his chance to save them! Francis felt as though he was about to break down, however, the emergence of a dark horse wearing a saddle prevented this.

"Francis!" A familiar voice cried as Francis hoisted himself onto the horses back, he looked down to see Lili standing beside the horse, her wide eyes filled with panic and uncertainty. "What is happening?"

"Lili, I promise, I'll explain what is happening when I return, even though I doubt that you will believe me!" Francis explained as he grabbed the reigns of the horse, beckoning it to move forward in a canter, before breaking into a gallop and leaving Lili standing before the stable.

Francis was relieved that the stable boy had indeed grabbed the fastest horse, as it passed dozens of carriages and other riders on its way to the docks.  
All he could think about was Arthur, and how he could prevent his death; Francis no longer cared about his lingering love for the Queen, all he was consumed about was saving him, despite never receiving the credit for it. Even if Arthur was happily married to another man, as long as Arthur was alive and happy: Francis' love for him would never die. Arthur's terrified eyes pierced Francis' soul and he knew that he would not be able to live with himself if his dream became reality.

Francis sighed with relief when his horse rode along the edge of the hill, Francis looked down the hill to see the beautiful blue ocean, and felt as though he could scream when he saw a ship sitting at the dock, with the symbol of spades dawning flags at the base of the ship.

 _They haven't left…_

Francis begged the horse to go faster down the hill, as he struggled to steer the horse away from carts and people who were in his path.  
Francis couldn't help but gasp when he looked at the ship, and watched as two figures in royal blue capes with blonde hair began to walk up the plank, beginning to board the ship. Immediately, Francis' eyes gravitated to Arthur as he held his husbands hand, Francis felt as though he was watching his final chance slip between his fingers.

"ARTHUR!" Francis cried as his horse broke off of the dirt path, and leapt onto the wooden dock, quickly Francis halted his horse before jumping off and breaking into a run. "ARTHUR WAIT!"  
Suddenly, Arthur and Alfred stopped before they could make it onto the ship, the couple stared at Francis as though he was a madman.  
Francis stopped before the plank, preventing himself from boarding the ship himself.

"What are you doing here?!" Alfred hissed loudly, as though he was insulted by Francis' actions.

"75!" Francis wheezed, feeling as though he was about to be sick from the mixture of anxiety and straining exercise. "75 percent!"

"What?" Arthur asked as he took a step down the plank, but Alfred's grip on his hand prevented him from moving any further.

"The deal, I'll trade my grain and food with you and you only have to pay 75 percent," Francis explained as he felt his messy hair begin to fall from his ribbon, falling onto his face. "It's still a better deal for you than what ever has been arranged in the histories of our kingdoms."

"Why are you doing this?" Alfred asked as he pushed himself in front of Arthur, as though he was shielding him, "what do you want?"

Francis no longer cared about how Alfred felt towards him; it was Arthur's wellbeing that mattered to the King of Diamonds, so Francis knew that he had to lie, "My kingdom is a lot more desperate than I have been letting on. I need this arrangement, badly." Francis continued to lie; his kingdom was not in need of anything, if anything: his kingdom was in the best shape that it had been in years. "Don't think of me and don't think about the sins of my heart… Think of your people…"  
Francis knew that he had struck the right chord, as Alfred and Arthur looked at each other, considering the deal.  
"Think about how good a deal revolving around food would be for them…"

It was Arthur who pushed himself past Alfred, with their hands still connected, Arthur pulled Alfred off of the plank, so the monarchs stood before the King of Diamonds, both of them staring at him, analysing his words by looking into his eyes.

After receiving a nod from Alfred, it was Arthur who extended his hand towards Francis, _"Deal."_

Two years after that day, the monarchs saw each other again in the dark of night in the ballroom of the Palace of Clubs.  
However, the group of monarchs were being watched, a figure stood on a tree just outside the window, the figure was dressed in black, a stark contrast to the chilling whiteness of the snow. The figure wasn't alone though, in his pale hands, he held a baby, of which whose chest was branded with the cursed mark of the Joker.

"These are the men and women that you are going to grow up watching over…" The Joker explained as he brushed the baby's blonde hair with his dark fingernails. "Peter… I guess that name isn't so bad, I was born as a Gilbert…"  
The Joker held the baby tightly in the dark blanket, protecting its precious skin from the cold. "Someday I am going to die, and you are going to take my place… so I shall have to teach you quickly about the current monarchs, and their stories."  
The baby made a whimpering noise as Gilbert looked through the window, watching the monarchs dance together, and their national colours creating a show of flowing colours all over the dance floor.

"What I find funny, is that if the Diamond King had arrived at the docks at least a moment later two years ago, the King and Queen of Spades would have died on this very day… the King of Diamonds fought between his heart and his duty as a King, however, as it turns out: his duty was to be a loyal man, and he pushed aside his feelings and his kingly duties to save the life of the one he loves. Now … I know that no matter how long he lives: the King of Diamonds will love the Queen of Spades with his entire being… However, he is content with the queen's marriage; and is a better man than one whose jealousy destroys him."  
The baby made another noise, waking from his slumber.  
"I know it is a tragedy. However, his heart was what prevented the worst disaster to ever befall the land of the Kingdoms of Cards. We have done our job: we have secured the security of the Kingdoms, and thus, time shall continue to pass smoothly."

Gilbert glanced back through the window, to see two figures dancing together on the dancefloor and he smiled, knowing about the underlying feelings between them… One was in love with the other, who was a happily married queen to another Kingdom. Despite this, the relationship between the Kingdoms of Spades and Diamonds shall continue to only grow stronger, at the expense of Francis' loving heart…


End file.
